1 . Many years ago, I was living in Cali, Colombia. My younger sister decided to visit me for a holiday. However, on the day I was supposed to go to meet her at the airport, I somehow_________time and realized that I was leaving my home much later than I had wanted to. And to make matters worse, when I went outside, the rain was_________from the sky and I couldn’t get a taxi to take me to the airport. I_________jumping onboard a public bus to Palmira, where the airport was. Except it wasn’t exactly going to be_________the airport.

The driver said that he would _________me off at a crossroads which was located six kilometers away from the airport. I had no_________but to travel with the bus. The_________took ages, however. When the bus did eventually reach the _________mentioned crossroads, the stop appeared to be in the middle of _________.The driver pointed in a given__________and told me that the airport was down that way. By this time, I had burst into__________.My sister would be arriving in twelve minutes, and there was no way I was going to be able to__________in time. Beside myself with __________, I begged the driver to drive the six kilometers down to the airport to drop me off. He stood up and asked the other__________to take a vote.__________, they all agreed. Thanks ECN to them, I arrived on time.

1.

A．lost track of

B．kept up with

C．ran out of

D．got tired of

2.

A．fading

B．shaking

C．sweeping

D．pouring

3.

A．ended up

B．put up

C．stuck to

D．objected to

4.

A．departing from

B．parting at

C．heading for

D．waiting at

5.

A．see

B．drop

C．set

D．keep

6.

A．praise

B．ambition

C．alternative

D．respect

7.

A．outing

B．journey

C．waiting

D．operation

8.

A．presently

B．preciously

C．precisely

D．previously

9.

A．nowhere

B．somewhere

C．nothing

D．something

10.

A．preference

B．reference

C．location

D．direction

11.

A．chaos

B．tears

C．exhaustion

D．loneliness

12.

A．come round

B．breakout

C．get along

D．make it

13.

A．confusion

B．promise

C．worry

D．prejudice

14.

A．visitors

B．passengers

C．conductors

D．inspectors

15.

A．Fortunately

B．Potentially

C．Suddenly

D．Apparently

2 . Speed reading is a skill that allows people to process information quickly with skimming techniques.     1     Here’re some efficient speed reading techniques.

Talk to yourself less and avoid sounding out each word.     2     This may help readers remember concepts but can also be a major barrier to speed. Keep in mind that you don’t need to read every single word to understand the sentence’s overall meaning.

Cover words you’ve already read with a card. When you’re reading, your eyes can move back to earlier words. These are typically short habitual movements that don’t improve understanding or speed. Use a card to cover words right after you’ve read them.     3    

Move your eyes less as you read. While reading, your eyes: move, stopping on some words and skipping others. However, you can only comprehend what you’re reading when your eyes stop moving. Learning to move your eyes less can help you read faster. So try staring at one line at a time without gliding your eyes over the words.

    4     Track your progress by timing yourself daily, or each time you do a speed reading exercise. Not only does trying to beat your best speed motivate you, but it can also give you a goal to work towards.

Set obtainable goals to improve your speed reading. Aim to work on n yours pee reading daily by completing speed reading exercises. 200 to 250 words per minute is the expected reading speed for someone 12 or older.     5     At 450 words per minute, you’re reading as fast as a college student skimming for the main points. It typically takes 2 to 4weeks to double your reading speed, so be patient with yourself and keep trying.

A．Point to the words you’re reading on the page.

B．So, how do you learn and master this amazing skill?

C．Time your reading speed so you can track your progress.

D．Some readers sound out every word they read in their heads.

E．This way, you can train yourself not to look back at previous sentences.

F．300 words per minute is the reading speed of the average college student.

G．Reading can seem like such a chore, especially because it can take so long.

3 . Kenya is home to Africa’s predators (捕食者), particularly lions, which frequently hunt farmers’ livestock (牲畜). To protect their animals, farmers often use poisons. While these have been successful in protecting farmers’ livestock, their use has resulted in a sharp decline in the lion population, which stands at just 2,500 now.

At the age of nine, Turere was asked to care for his father’s cattle beside Nairobi National Park, one of Kenya’s most famous wilderness areas, where people frequently experienced conflicts with lions. Turere couldn’t bear to see lions harmed by humans when lions hunted cows, because he loved these creatures deeply. Determined to find a solution benefiting both local farmers and wildlife, Turere started experimenting. But no way worked at first. The only thing that worked later was when he wandered around the livestock pen with a torch in hand. The sight of him walking around at night with a light made the animals runaway.

This inspired Turere to develop the Lion Lights system, a series of flashing LED lights strategically placed on the cattle fences to scare away predators. “The lights flash irregularly to trick lions into thinking that someone is walking around with a flashlight. Thanks to it, we went from losing three cows a week to none,” says Turere. This innovative solar-powered light system—which can also run on wind power—costs just $20.5 per unit, making it affordable and eco-friendly.

Turere’s invention is not only protecting the livelihoods of local communities, it, is also changing the viewpoints of local communities on wild life. “Since the introduction of the Lion Lights system, there have been no predator-related incidents. As a result, local people no longer view wildlife as the enemy,” he notes. “This is great news for these wonderful animals as it means that local communities are more open to wildlife conservation.”

1. What is the problem with farmers using poisons in Kenya?

A．It threatens the lion’s survival.

B．It often harms their livestock.

C．It arouses the public’s opposition.

D．It damages the local environment.

2. Why did Turere perform the experiments?

A．To take good care of his father’s cattle.

B．To stop farmers from hunting lions.

C．To protect the livestock from being killed.

D．To find ways for farmers and lions to coexist.

3. What do we know about the Lion Lights System?

A．It can keep domestic animals from running away.

B．It works with all the lights on all the time.

C．It’s inexpensive and environmentally friendly.

D．Only three cows have been lost since it was used.

4. What does the author want to show in the last paragraph?

A．Exploring the world is a must for children.

B．Local communities have been preserving the wildlife.

C．Protecting the livestock of local communities is the top priority.

D．Turere’s invention contributed to wildlife conservation.

4 . Following a design shown on her cell phone, Ruan Xiyue, 35, quickly sketched a manned spacecraft on a gourd (葫芦), completing the first step of gourd sculpture, an intangible (非物质) cultural her it age of northwest China’s Gansu Province.

Coming from a family engaged in gourd sculpture for almost 90 years in Lanzhou, Ruan is not satisfied with just perfecting her technique. Instead, the fourth-generation inheritor (继承人) aims to bring traditional craftsmanship closer to young people through marketing and sharing.

Dating back over 1, 600 years, gourd sculpture was first developed as a decoration on people’s portable wine pots made of gourds. The pronunciation of “gourd” in Chinese, which resembles that of “luck and fortune”, partly explains its lasting popularity.

For Ruan, the fragrance of gourds is the smell of home. Upon graduating from college, she started learning gourd sculpture from her mother, sitting for hours every day practicing calligraphy and painting, which she views as the essential training to become a qualified sculptor. Later, Ruan developed innovative products such as gourd mirrors and gourd necklaces to tap the market potential, believing they can help the craft reach more people.

Her family opened a gourd sculpting studio in 2010, displaying their works as well as a history of the art. Ruan likes talking with visitors to the studio, and their interactions inspired her to launch a curriculum for people to experience the craft in 2016. According to Ruan, around 800 people attend the courses every year. Among them are students eager to learn something new, and young parents who bring their kids along to enjoy some lovely family time. “Many participants told me that our courses enable them to know more about the history of Lanzhou, and help make the city’s memories last longer,” said Ruan.

Under Ruan’s influence, her mother is now live streaming on social media everyday sharing her stories of gourd sculpture with viewers across the country. “Sharing is inheriting,” said Ruan. “When we share our skills and knowledge with more people, the traditional culture will naturally be spread on a wider scale,” said Ruan.

1. What do we know about Ruan?

A．She is a designer of manned spacecraft on a gourd.

B．She took up gourd sculpture under the influence of her family.

C．She first sculpted on a portable wine pot made of a gourd.

D．She is good at teaching young people the craftsmanship.

2. Which words can be used to describe the curriculum?

A．Inspiring and touching.	B．New and memorable.
C．Popular and enjoyable.	D．Lovely and practical.

3. Which statement is the author likely to agree with?

A．Spreading the gourd sculpture is to share the stories.

B．Stories of gourd sculpture a reviewed across the world

C．Live streaming on social media is the best way to share.

D．Traditional culture will be spread wider through sharing.

4. What can be the best title of the text?

A．Ruan Xiyue: an Inheritor of an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

B．Gourd Sculpture: a Traditional Craft Popular with the Chinese.

C．Social Media: a Useful Tool to Share Gourd Sculpture.

D．Cultural Courses: an Approach to Learning Something New.

5 . Monet gets his place in the art timeline because of his leading role in the impressionist art movement, and through the lasting appeal of his artistic style. The painting he titled Impression: Sunrise, done early in his career, may not seem one of Monet’s best paintings, but the big deal about it is that it was the painting that gave impressionism its name.

Done with oil paint on canvas, this painting is characterized by thin washes of rather mild colors, on top of which he painted short strokes of pure color. Monet gave depth and perspective to an otherwise flat painting by the use of aerial perspective (空间透视法). Look closely at the three boats, and you can see how these get lighter in the tone, which is the way aerial perspective works. The lighter boats appear to be further away from us than the darkest one.

Monet exhibited the painting in what we now call the First Impressionist Exhibition, in Paris. Monet and a group of about 30 other artists, frustrated by restrictions and politics of the official annual art salon, had decided to hold their own independent exhibition, an unusual thing to do at the time. They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc., which included artists who are now world famous such as Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and Cezanne. Monet said he’d called the painting “impression” because “it really couldn’t pass as a view of Le Harve”.

Louis Leroy, an art critic, in his review of the exhibition used the title of Monet’s painting as the headline, calling it the “Exhibition of Impressionists”. Leroy had meant it ironically as the term “impression” was used to describe a rapidly finished painting of an atmospheric effect, and artists rarely, if ever, exhibited pictures so quickly sketched. The label stuck. In his review published on 25 April, 1874, Leroy wrote,“Wallpaper in its embryonic (萌芽期的) state is more finished than that seascape.” Then in a supportive review published a few days later, Jules Castagnary was the first art critic to use the term “Impressionism” in a positive way.

1. What do we know about Monet’s Impression: Sunrise?

A．It was universally acknowledged as Monet’s best painting.

B．Leroy was deeply impressed by the painter’s remarkable skill.

C．The different tones of the three boats gave depth to the painting.

D．It was exhibited in the official annual art salon with 30 other artists.

2. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?

A．The label met strong opposition from other art critics.

B．The label was stuck to the surface of Monet’s painting.

C．The label was not regarded as a positive image.

D．The label stayed and became widely used after that.

3. Who is the first to use the term “Impressionists”?

A．Monet.

B．Leroy.

C．Renoir.

D．Castagnary.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Impression: Sunrise gave Impressionism its name.

B．Critics had a disagreement over Monet’s painting.

C．Monet is a leading artist of Impressionism.

D．Impressionism is an appealing artistic style.

6 . 假如你是李华，是学生会主席。近几年，校园霸凌现象层出不穷。学生会将组织“反对校园霸凌周”（Anti-bullying Week）活动，旨在提高对校园霸凌的认识，给同学们提供一个安全舒适的学习生活环境。请你写一封倡议信，内容包括以下要点：
1.活动的内容和目的；
2.给出针对校园霸凌的建议；
3.呼吁同学们反对校园霸凌。
注意：词数80左右。格式已经给出且不计入词数
参考词汇：校园霸凌：campus bullying
Dear fellow students,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Li Hua

7 . 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。

As a hectare of mangrove forests (红树林) can absorb as much carbon as four hectares of rainforests, they     1     (regard) as the most efficient “sponges” (海绵) for carbon on the planet since last century. But cutting down mangrove forests prevents some areas from absorbing carbon, and it also     2     (release) carbon remaining in the soils.

In 2013, the Mikoko Pamoja carbon project began to conserve and protect 117 hectares of mangrove forest around the village Gazi, Kenya. It was the first project to turn blue carbon,     3     (store) in mangroves, into an economically workable programme. The project also has     4     (effective) reduced environmental crimes such as illegal logging and poaching (偷猎). “Joblessness is the reason why the youth usually engage     5     poaching and illegal logging in Kenya,” says Samuel Mutisya, a previous poacher. “If carbon projects can create jobs for people in the village, then the society will start seeing forests and wildlife as     6     (they) banks.”

The local fisherman Abdallah Mohamed,     7     is not involved in the project, has also noticed     8     (benefit). “The fish returned after the community stopped taking firewood from the mangroves. Our indigenous trees are aslo coming to life because there are     9     (few) disturbances,” he says. “This project is really of great     10     (significant).”

10 . Protect the night sky

As a nature photographer, stars have always been one of my favourite elements in the photos. They offer an connection to a universe that is mysterious and grand, connecting our earthly lives to the heavens. Since the earliest recorded history, the night sky has sparked our imaginations and become deeply rooted in our cultures, traditions, artwork, and in later years, has inspired the development of technology with the hope of reaching beyond our blue planet.

With the development of the industrial (工业的) world, though, we have begun to lose the clarity (清晰) that thousands of generations of people and wildlife before us have enjoyed. Because of excesssive (过度) use of lighting, stars have become fainter (模糊的). For photographers hoping to capture the magic of the night sky, they must seek new places. Dark places are far from the reach of a city, and those place are becoming harder and harder to find.

Thanks to conservation groups, led by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), we have an opportunity to improve our night skies and recapture ancient magic. By holding the International Dark-Sky week, a yearly celebration of the night sky, the IDA is helping cities, communities and families do their part in helping make skies darker. Dark skies benefit more than just nature photographers; they are important to many wildlife species that also depend on them.

Here are some simple steps we all can do that are easy and inexpensive:

* Change your light bulbs to a dark-sky-friendly color, the closer the light is similar to “firelight” and the further it is away from a blue or white color, the better it is for the environment.

* Use a light fixture that channels the light down and instead of wide and open.

* Turn your lights off before bed!

1. Why does the author prefer photographing stars so much?

A．They inspire the author to learn cultures and art.

B．They are often paid little attention to by most people.

C．They are hardly seen due to the industrial development.

D．They build a close relation between universe and humans.

2. How can photographers get a satisfying photo of the night sky?

A．By looking for places without light.

B．By turning to government for help

C．By avoiding using any light bulbs.

D．By promoting industrial development

3. What can we infer from passage?

A．Blue and white are the dark-sky-friendly colors.

B．Many species of wildlife depend on dark skies.

C．Little efforts are needed to protect the night sky.

D．Joint efforts are needed to regain the darker sky.

4. What is the author's writing purpose?

A．To highlight the value of protecting the night sky.

B．To inform people of the current situation of night sky.

C．To call on people to take action to protect the night sky

D．To show author's great concern for the use of lighting