1 . Welcome to the North Carolina Zoo

We are excited to welcome you to the zoo. The North Carolina Zoo serves and welcomes everyone. Tickets can be bought in advance online or at the gate on the day of your visit.

Hours

The zoo is open all year round, closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

April -October 9 a. m. to 5 p. m.

November -March 9 a. m. to 4 p. m.

The last entry (进入) is one hour before closing.

Prices

Adults (ages 13 -61): $15                           Seniors (ages 62+): $13

Children (ages 2-12): $11                           Under 2: Free

Meet the Keeper

Take your zoo day to the next level and plan to attend a “Meet the Keeper” meeting where you can see a range of activities, such as animal feeding and training sessions.

Animal	When	Where
Gorillas	11:30 a.m. Saturdays &Sundays	Gorilla Habitat
Giraffe	2:30 p.m. Saturdays &Sundays	Giraffe Overlook One
Seabirds	2:00 p.m. daily	Rocky Coast
North American Porcupines	10:30 a.m. Saturdays &Sundays	Rocky Coast

Notes

We do not allow picnic-style meals inside the zoo, and bringing branded outside foods (McDonald’s for example) into the zoo is also prohibited (禁止). Guests are welcome to enjoy these foods at one of our picnic areas before entering the zoo. If you exit (出去) to picnic during your visit, please check in with our staff to get a mark on your hand.

Address

4401 Zoo Pkwy, Asheboro, NC 27205

1. How much should a middle-aged couple with their 5-year-old son pay for a visit?

A．$26.

B．$30.

C．$37.

D．$41.

2. What animals may visitors see if they join a “Meet the Keeper” meeting on weekdays?

A．Giraffe.	B．Seabirds.
C．Gorillas.	D．North American Porcupines.

3. What is a special feature of the North Carolina Zoo?

A．Same-day re-entry is allowed.

B．It provides picnic areas inside the zoo.

C．Visitors can feed animals with their own foods.

D．Ticket booking can be made at the gate in advance.

2 . In the hot summer, many people rely on ice cream to keep them going. Among the dizzying array of ice cream, there’s always a place for ice cream cones. When you enjoy the ice cream cone, have you ever thought about the seemingly humble cone?

The ice cream cone is never the star of the show. Its role is clear: Keep the scoop upright, don’t leak and don’t upstage the main player, the ice cream. But being that supporting takes work, which is why David George believes that the cone deserves more respect.

George is the third-generation president of Joy Baking Group, the largest manufacturer of ice cream cones in North America. You may not know Joy by name, but you’ve probably tasted its cones. As the kingdom of ice cream has expanded, the cone world has only grown smaller. Joy has concerned the cone market by betting on a basic premise: When it comes to the cone, people don’t want creativity. They want familiarity.

Joy’s flagship factory in western Pennsylvania produced 15 to 20 million cones a day during its busiest season. They include squeaky cake cones; cookie-like sugar cones; and caramel-scented waffle cones. These are cones designed to taste like childhood summers. They’re as comforting as a slice of pie, as delightful as cotton candy.

“The thing about ice cream is that for nearly everyone, it is so tied to nostalgia,” said Susan Sorrento, the owner of Moreno’s, an ice cream shop in the Washington area. “It is what you remember about your grandma taking you out.” For many Americans, those moments are linked to Joy cones. Even if another worthy competitor arises, “It doesn’t matter,” she said, “because it is competing with a memory.”

1. Why does George believe the cone should be respected?

A．It doesn’t often change tastes.

B．It does important work quietly.

C．It is as delightful as cotton candy.

D．It has its market expanded gradually.

2. Which of the following best describes Joy Baking Group?

A．It pursues its business philosophy.

B．It has the fourth-generation president.

C．It produces 15 to 20 million cones daily.

D．It is the largest cone maker in South America.

3. What does the underlined word “nostalgia” in the last paragraph mean?

A．An eagerness for freedom.	B．A way of relaxation after work.
C．A period of happy old times.	D．An expectation for good results.

4. What does Sorrento think of the future of ice cream cones?

A．Uncertain.	B．Dull.
C．Challenging.	D．Promising.

3 . You Can Make Working from Home Much More Pleasant with These Gadgets

Standing Desk Converter

Sitting all day can be harmful to our health. A standing desk converter allows you to easily transform your traditional desk into a standing desk, giving you the option to stand or sit throughout the day. This gadget can help reduce back pain, improve posture, and increase energy levels.

Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

Tired of being tied to your computer by a tangled mess of wires? A wireless keyboard and mouse can provide the freedom to work from anywhere within a certain range of your computer. These gadgets can improve comfort, flexibility, and reduce clutter.

Noise-cancelling Headphones

With more people working from home, the noise level in your home office can be distracting. Noise-cancelling headphones can help reduce outside noise and increase focus. They’re also great for taking video calls or listening to music without disturbing others in your home.

Smart Lighting
       Smart lighting allows you to adjust the brightness and color of your workspace lighting using a mobile app. This can improve productivity and comfort, as proper lighting can reduce eye strain and improve focus.
Foot Rest

A foot rest can help improve posture and reduce back pain. It’s a simple gadget that can make a big difference in comfort during long workdays.

Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat allows you to control the temperature of your home office using a mobile app. This gadget can help you stay comfortable throughout the day without constantly adjusting the thermostat. It can also help save money on energy bills.

1. Which gadget can free you from a mess of wires?

A．Smart Lighting.	B．Noise-Cancelling Headphones.
C．Smart Thermostat.	D．Wireless Keyboard and Mouse.

2. What can be controlled in a certain range?

A．Foot Rest and Smart Thermostat.

B．Smart Lighting and Smart Thermostat.

C．Noise-Cancelling Headphones and Smart Lighting.

D．Wireless Keyboard and Mouse and Smart Thermostat.

3. What do Standing Desk Converter and Foot Rest have in common?

A．They can help focus.

B．They can increase flexibility.

C．They can ease backache.

D．They can turn into another form.

4 . Regarded as the “loneliest tree in the world”, the Sitka spruce (云杉) on uninhabited Campbell Island lately has kept good company with a team of New Zealand researchers who believe it could help unlock secrets of climate changes.

The nine-meter-tall spruce holds the Guinness Record title for the “remotest tree” on the planet. It is the sole tree on the shrubby, windswept island, 700 kilometers south of New Zealand in the Southern Ocean. It’s the only tree for 222km around; its nearest neighbor grows on the Auckland Islands.

Although classified as an invasive species, for radiocarbon science leader at GNS Science, Dr. Jocelyn Turnbull, the tree could be a valuable tool to understand what is happening with the uptake of CO₂ in the Southern Ocean. In order to measure CO₂ concentrations, taking samples of the atmosphere is the best method, and can be complemented with radiocarbon dating samples of deep water. But it comes with limitations. “You can’t collect air that was there 30 years ago, because it is not there anymore,” Turnbull said, “So we came up with this idea of using tree rings. Plants, when they grow, take CO₂ out of the air by photosynthesis (光合作用) and they use that to grow their structures and the carbon from the air ends up in the tree rings.”

This is helpful when there is an abundance of established trees, but those are a rarity in the Southern Ocean. Enter the Sitka Spruce - the south most tree, and the team could find it would offer up good data. “It’s grown a lot faster than anything else in that region and the rings are bigger and easier to separate out and get a record form.”

As for the tree’s lonely status: the description may be in the eye of the beholder. “To get to the tree you have to walk through elephant seals and sea lions, penguins and albatross,” Turnbull said. “The tree doesn’t look lonely …it looks quite content actually.”

1. What is special about the tree?

A．It measures nine meters wide.

B．It is the only tree on a vast land.

C．It grows on the Auckland Islands.

D．It owns the Guinness title for the “loneliest tree”.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．CO2 builds up in the tree rings.

B．The Sitka spruce is a native species.

C．Samples from water are usually inaccessible.

D．Photosynthesis stops the plants absorbing air.

3. What may Turnbull support?

A．The tree coexists with a variety of animals.

B．The tree grows well because of suitable climate.

C．It’s unwise to use tree rings as an indicator of CO2.

D．It’s possible to measure previous CO2 concentrations directly.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Trees are of great significance to scientific research.

B．The “loneliest” tree in the world is not lonely at all.

C．Global warming has a far-reaching impact on creatures.

D．A remote Sitka spruce may help us learn about climate changes.

5 . For the last five years, Saroyan Matthew Lee has pricked his fingertips at least once a day to test a drop of blood. If the amount of glucose, a simple sugar, is too high, he must get a shot of insulin (胰岛素) to lower it. These daily finger pricks are “really lifestyle-hampering and invasive,” Matthew says. So he developed an alternative - a wearable patch. It turns yellow when glucose levels are too high.

The body normally makes insulin to even out blood-sugar levels. But having type 1 diabetes, Matthew cannot make this hormone. That’s important because highly elevated blood sugar can put someone’s life in danger. After seeing younger kids struggle to interpret their blood-sugar levels, he thought a color-changing device might be easier to understand. “As a diabetic,” he explains, “What I recognize is that the precise blood glucose number is not really important to us.” Instead, he notes, people with disease must simple know when throughout the day they will need a shot of insulin.

The body releases chemicals through many routes. The new single-use patch works by detecting glucose in one of them: sweat. Past research shows that you can estimate blood-sugar levels based on how much glucose sweat has.

Two sheets of hydrogel- a jingly, water-based gel- make up Matthew’s small patch. It’s only 1 centimeter (about 0.4 inch) square. The layer closest to the skin contains a chemical that reacts with glucose. This interaction produces a second chemical called hydrogen peroxide. The more sugar there is, the more hydrogen peroxide will be made. Hydrogen peroxide triggers a reaction in the patch’s upper layer. It causes a protein called papain - to react with a color-changing chemical. The more glucose in sweat, the yellower the patch will become.

Matthew’s patch is painless and easy to understand. And it shouldn’t be very costly. Material costs of his patch are just one-fifth as much as those of existing glucose-measuring devices, because current gadgets require electrical components but Matthew’s patch relies on far less expensive chemicals.

1. What do we know about Matthew?

A．He has the ability to make insulin regularly.

B．He considers it harmless to prick his fingertips.

C．He invents a convenient device to test blood sugar.

D．He thinks it vital to know the blood sugar level accurately.

2. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A．The patch functions on the basis of three reactions.

B．Papain reacts in the second layer, causing hydrogen peroxide.

C．A color-changing chemical is located in the layer closest to the skin.

D．The patch relies on detecting glucose in various chemicals released by body.

3. Which is the advantage of Matthew’s patch?

A．It is more economical.

B．It uses less electricity.

C．It can be used for several times.

D．It shows the exact blood sugar number.

4. Which is the best title for the text?

A．A Novel Way to Treat Diabetes.

B．Painless Patch to Test Blood Sugar.

C．A New Device to Stabilize Blood Sugar.

D．A Chain of Insulin-Producing Reactions.

6 . 阅读下列短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Ar Horqin Grassland Nomadic System in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, listed on the list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the United Nations,     1     (demonstrate) the wisdom of herdsmen to work in harmony with nature.

The     2     (season) movement of herds among different pastures (牧场) plays an important role in maintaining the self-renewal and recovery     3     (capable) of the grasslands. While keeping soil fertility from degrading, the nomadic lifestyle can protect vegetation and make good use of water resources,     4     the growing population of people and livestock, still puts much pressure     5     the grassland resources. Locals have, therefore, come up with ways to avoid overgrazing. With ancestral wisdom     6     (root) in a time of relatively small societies, it may be unable to solve issues today. This is     7     modern planning can help with.

For example, since 2015, under the guidance of the local government of Ar Horqin Banner, the number of sheep and goats in the nomadic system     8     (reduce) from 390,000 to 190,000, while the number of cattle has been increased from 40,000 to 81,000 head. No more than 100,000 sheep are allowed to migrate to the summer camps every year. With     9     (scientific) designed grazing patterns ensuring sustainable development of the grasslands, herdsmen can maintain     10     more balanced relationship with nature.

7 . Tips for Maximizing Savings at Your Local Clearance (清仓) Food Store

     Shopping for groceries can be expensive, especially in this global economic climate. If you are catering to a large family or on a tight budget, the battle to save on groceries becomes twice as hard.     1    ? These tips may help you.
Create a shopping list

List what you need before heading to your local clearance food store. It should help avoid unnecessary purchases and ensure you only buy what you need.

Look for Deals
           2    , so take advantage of them. Typically, these items are priced much lower than regular-priced ones, and you can find some great deals. Check out the clearance section to find the best deals. This area is often located at back or side of the store.
Buy in Quantity

Buying in quantity can save you more money at clearance food stores. A safer bet would be deals on buying items in large amounts, such as canned goods, pasta, or rice.     3     .

Compare Shops

Just like with regular grocery stores, you should always compare prices at different clearance food stores. Some stores will offer better deals, so it pays to shop around.    4    .

Look for Coupons

Check for coupons that you can use at your local clearance food store.    5    . With them, you can get a chunk off your total groceries bill, saving you more money.

In conclusion, shopping at a local clearance food store can be your savings hub if you’re armed with the right information. So, what are you waiting for?

A．Different stores may have a wide range of goods

B．Cheap food stores often offer weekly and monthly deals

C．These items have a longer shelf life meaning longer storage

D．But how to save when you shop at your local clearance food store

E．Check for stores that are offering discounts, and settle for the best deal

F．So why not visit your local clearance food store where you can save more

G．These can be in local newspapers or magazines, or search for them online

8 . With the Statue of Liberty positioned perfectly behind me, I turned my attention to my husband, Mark, holding the camera. “Ready?” I called out. “One, two, three, go!” he shouted. At his _________, I started doing star jumps, as he held the shutter button down to _________ the moment.

It was 2013, and Mark and I loved to travel around the world and _________ silly photos with our friends and family back home. It was the first time I’d tried this _________ and when I posted it on Facebook later that day, it was _________ popular. I was amazed by dozens of likes and comments.

When I got home, it was all my friends could talk about. “Your star jumps really _________ me up,” one said over a cup of tea. It made me happy knowing I’d helped others _________ a smile at my expense. Years went by, and the pose became a(n) _________ part of my travels, from France, the Greek Islands and Italy to Bali and New Zealand.

Then in June, I saw a(n) _________ advertised online searching for Australia’s happiest person. “We’re __________ four stays at Oaks hotels and all we want to see is your happy face,” it __________. “That sounds like me,” I thought, so I posted the __________. A couple of months later, I got a phone call announcing I was the __________. I was excited at the news and raced to tell Mark.

Now, here’s our plan: First, we’ll __________ to Sydney for the Vivid Festival and climb the Harbor Bridge. After that, we might go to Kings Cliff in northern New South Wales and even Darwin.

Life’s all about chasing happiness. And for anyone searching for __________ in their lives, my advice would be to smile.

1.

A．warning

B．initiative

C．signal

D．praise

2.

A．expose

B．capture

C．describe

D．highlight

3.

A．collect

B．develop

C．take

D．share

4.

A．pose

B．expression

C．schedule

D．strategy

5.

A．rarely

B．constantly

C．instantly

D．slightly

6.

A．cheered

B．picked

C．woke

D．brought

7.

A．hide

B．force

C．admire

D．crack

8.

A．original

B．regular

C．temporary

D．secret

9.

A．discussion

B．tradition

C．competition

D．organization

10.

A．giving away

B．looking for

C．making up

D．taking up

11.

A．wrote

B．suggested

C．displayed

D．read

12.

A．comments

B．orders

C．pictures

D．letters

13.

A．photographer

B．winner

C．owner

D．traveler

14.

A．adjust

B．belong

C．turn

D．head

15.

A．fame

B．joy

C．fortune

D．comfort

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What day is it today?

A．Friday.

B．Thursday.

C．Wednesday.

2. Who forgot the words during the play?

A．Peter.

B．Harry.

C．Mark.

3. What was Fred’s problem?

A．He fell over a chair.

B．He caused lights to be off.

C．He gave up the play midway.

4. How does the woman feel about the situation on the man’s first night?

A．It’s normal.

B．It’s funny.

C．It’s surprising.

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where is Kate now?

A．In London.

B．In Edinburgh.

C．In Paris.

2. What was the weather like when the speaker was camping?

A．Sunny.

B．Rainy.

C．Cloudy.

3. What did the speaker do on the fourth day of the holiday?

A．She visited a village school.

B．She sailed on the lake.

C．She went to a museum.

4. Where does Kate work now?

A．At a library.

B．At a gym.

C．At a supermarket.