1 . Widespread descriptions of animals in pop culture could actually be hurting the animals’ survival chances in the wild, new research suggests.

Franck Courchamp of the University of Paris-Sud was interested in the idea of “appeal” in animals. He wanted to know: What species do people consider appealing? And what are the influences of being appealing on populations in the wild?

In a research published this month, Courchamp and other researchers list the top twenty appealing species. Most of the animals identified as appealing are large mammals living on land. Coming in first place were tigers, followed by lions, elephants, giraffes, panthers, pandas, cheetahs, polar bears, wolves, and gorillas. However, at least half of the interviewees didn’t realize that five of the top ten most appealing species are threatened. It is contradictory that we haven’t been able to protect the species we care about the most.

The study also found that we are flooded with images of these creatures, even as they are becoming fewer in the wild. The study suggests that too much of imagination might be creating a “virtual population” of the animals in people’s minds, making them believe there are far more individuals in the wild than is exact.

The study suggests that companies benefiting from the use of these images should set aside a small percentage of their profits for protection efforts and information al campaigns. “That would be not only something fair, but that would be something that could bring a win-win situation for them,” Courchamp says. “It could bring them positive public relation, for instance. Besides, if a company’s mascot (吉祥物) goes extinct, that could hurt them from a marketing point. But not enough companies are “truly concerned about the protection of the species that they work on,” he adds.

1. What is the influence of the widespread images of animals in pop culture?

A．It raises people’s wildlife protection awareness.

B．It does good to the survival of appealing animals.

C．It makes a false impression of the animals’ real situation.

D．It brings a win-win situation for both animals and companies.

2. What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A．It is natural to regard the large mammals as attractive.

B．More than half of the top ten appealing species are protected.

C．It is strange that people’s thoughts contrast with their behavior.

D．It is terrible that the species are dying out at an alarming speed.

3. How does Courchamp list the companies’ responsibilities and advantages in the last paragraph?

A．By giving examples.	B．By using numbers.
C．By making definitions.	D．By making comparisons.

4. What’s Courchamp’s attitude to the companies benefiting from animal images?

A．Unconcerned.

B．Positive.

C．Supportive.

D．Dissatisfied.

3 . 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 was the first day of the new school year. Sylvia entered the music room at a high school. The 65-year-old music teacher was known for being strict in class. Many students were afraid of her and not interested in this class. They attended music class only because they needed the credit. But Sylvia took her job seriously.

One day, she walked to the piano in the corner and started leading the students into a song to get them warmed up. And she quickly called out anyone who tried to joke around and punished them, which might explain why some students didn’t like her.

Soon enough, her class was almost over and one student asked curiously, “What do you like to listen to at home?” “Surely, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky,” another student laughed, making some others laugh. “I actually like a lot of pop music, and even some of the things you listen to nowadays. But I prefer to listen to classic music,” Sylvia replied, smiling at the kids.

Some returned the smile and started asking about some singers and bands. But the bell rang before she could answer all their questions and they had to leave. However, it seemed like the fear in her students had been relieved a bit that day. And she was hopeful they would warm up to her, even with her strict ways. Soon enough, the students got used to her and started taking her lessons more seriously.

However, in the middle of the school year, Sylvia’s husband suddenly died. And she wasn’t in the mood for work afterwards. The school allowed her to stay at home for two weeks. At home, Sylvia was sad and hopeless. She didn’t even listen to music anymore.

Before long, her students learned she had lost her husband and that she was sad. Soon, the students decided to practice playing certain music that could be in memory of her husband and cheer her up. When Sylvia returned to their class, they’d surprise her by playing the music.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。

After making the decision, the students chose the proper music and prepared music al instruments.

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When Sylvia entered the music room, the beautiful music sounded.

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4 . 假定你是李华，即将高三毕业，近期你校英文报针对高考志愿填报开展了一项主题为“Which Matters More-Major or University?”的调查。请使用饼状图（pie chart）中的调查结果，写一篇短文并投稿，内容包括：

1. 调查结果描述；
2. 观点分析：
3. 你的看法。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
调查结果（人数百分比）
2. 短文题目已给出。

Which Matters More—Major or University?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Virtual reality (VR) is quickly becoming the new technological frontier. However, a set of challenges and hurdles need to be overcome, including things like low latency, the high refresh rate, high resolution and a wide field of view.

Now that we can actually build VR headsets that begin to meet these requirements, we are seeing a rising interest in VR. As it rises, so does the interest in creating new media to be experienced by using VR. Journalism is a medium built on relevance. Journalists should always be finding new ways to tell stories and deliver content. VR is a goldmine for storytelling. What better way to tell a story to someone than to put them right in the center of it?

By using VR, the consumer isn’t just reading or watching something played out; they’re experiencing it. The super-realistic effect of VR allows people to connect them with the subject matter on a much deeper level than just reading about it. Any storyteller wanting to do something more interesting than their peers should surely be considering the power of VR.

The question of VR, though, is not how powerful it is. It is apparent that the question of VR is its availability. Telling stories must be easy to do, and access to those stories must be readily available. This is the biggest challenge that VR faces. If the tools to tell a story with VR aren’t easy to pick up and learn, VR will fail. If VR isn’t both top-of-the-line and affordable, VR will fail.

Accessibility is one concern for Thomas Hallaq. However, he thinks VR is still very promising. Hallaq said, “We’re seeing more technology becoming accessible, and more people having access to that technology. Just look at smartphones.” If the technology is widely available and companies can overcome the hurdles, VR will succeed in being a desirable means of storytelling. Like radio, TV and the Internet before it, VR will change the way we tell stories.

1. Why is VR considered a power tool for journalism?

A．It entertains the consumers.	B．It delivers content very fast.
C．It is equipped with improved headsets.	D．It gets people’s senses fully involved.

2. What is the biggest challenge for VR as a journalism tool?

A．Easy access.	B．New resources.
C．Public acceptance.	D．Technical barriers.

3. What does the underlined expression “top-of-the-line” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．The longest in history.	B．The highest in price.
C．The best in quality.	D．The largest in quantity.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Approaches to employing VR.

B．VR: the future of storytelling.

C．Secrets of the increasing popularity of VR.

D．Storytelling ability: the quality of journalists.

8 . I was eleven years old when I asked my mom for piano lessons in 2010. We were in the economic crisis. She said a polite “no”.

That didn’t stop me. I searched the measurements of a keyboard, drew the keys on a piece of paper and stuck it on my desk. I would click notes on an online keyboard and “play” them back on my paper one — keeping the sound they made on the computer in my head. I spent six months playing without touching a real piano. Once my mom saw that I was serious, she borrowed money and bought me ten lessons.

I still remember the first one. I was struck by how real the sound of the piano was. I sat my Grade One after eight lessons. Once I started secondary school, we couldn’t afford lessons again. I passed Grade Three, and then Grade Five, practicing only on my piece of paper.

One evening, when I was about thirteen, my mom said she had a surprise for me; it was an electronic keyboard, bought with more borrowed money. It was the first time I’d played for her. She was in astonishment.

My school didn’t offer music A-level. I found the Purcell School for young musicians. But I had to pass a difficult test. To my amazement, I was offered a place. At the Purcell School, I spent two years working as hard as I could, performed to raise money and saved enough to buy my first piano. When I left the Purcell School, I was awarded the senior piano prize and senior academic music prize. I am now at the Guildhall School in London. I feel proud — it’s been ten years since I drew my paper piano, and I’m at one of the world’s leading music schools.

The irony is that I continue to do a lot of my practice away from the piano — what we call mental practice. The paper piano helped arouse my curiosity about how music works and the building blocks that form the pieces, being a reminder of how I held on to what I love — piano.

1. Why did the author’s mom buy him lessons at last?

A．She suddenly made a fortune.	B．She saw his performance on a real piano.
C．She realized he meant what he said.	D．She had no doubt about his talent for piano.

2. What happened when the author was about thirteen years old?

A．He prepared a surprise for his mom.

B．His mom was amazed the first time he played for her.

C．He was awarded the senior piano prize at the Purcell School.

D．His mom earned enough money to buy an electronic keyboard for him.

3. Which of the following can best describe the author?

A．Determined.

B．Honest.

C．Humorous.

D．Generous.

4. What’s the author’s main purpose of writing this article?

A．To introduce the method of mental practice.

B．To encourage people to stick to their dreams.

C．To describe how costly it is to learn an instrument.

D．To share how he convinced his mom to buy a piano.

9 . A music festival is a community event mainly about live performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a main idea. On the list are the music festival s for fans around the world. Find your favourite now!

Field Day (Sydney)

Field Day means New Year’s Day for young people in Sydney. Seen as the city’s original party, it’s a gathering of friends coming together for a great fun-filled first day of the year. There’s an air of hope and active energy on a perfect summer’s day.

Envision Festival (Uvita)

The Envision Festival is an annual event in Costa Rica that wants to provide a chance for different cultures to work with one another to create a better community. The festival encourages people to practise art, music and dance performances. At the same time, our connection with nature is expected to be strengthened.

McDowell Mountain Music Festival (Phoenix)

The McDowell Mountain Music Festival is Phoenix’s musical celebration of community culture. Since its founding in 2004, it is the only 100% non-profit music festival designed to support, entertain and educate the community. The festival attracts thousands of visitors each year from around the country, and it is an opportunity to experience true culture.

Old Settler’s Music Festival (Tilmon)

The Old Settler’s Music Festival is a nationally known music festival for American music. The festival is held in Tilmon, Texas at the height of the flower season in the wild. The Old Settler’s Music Festival offers great music and activities for the whole family.

1. In which city can people celebrate a fun New Year’s Day?

A．Tilmon.

B．Uvita.

C．Phoenix.

D．Sydney.

2. What is special about the McDowell Mountain Music Festival?

A．It is about American music.

B．It focuses on culture spread.

C．It is not held to make money.

D．It provides a chance for friends to meet each other.

3. Which festivals are connected with nature?

A．Field Day and Envision Festival.

B．Envision Festival and Old Settler’s Music Festival.

C．Envision Festival and McDowell Mountain Music Festival.

D．Old Settler’s Music Festival and McDowell Mountain Music Festival.

10 . We sometimes think that everything was much better and easier in the past. It’s one of the tricks our minds play on us, especially when we are in low spirits.

Actually, it’s unlikely that things were objectively better in the past. This form of thinking is called rosy retrospection, which is a well-studied cognitive bias. It happens because when we think about the past, we are more likely to focus on positive generalities than annoying details.

If you think back to a holiday with your family five years ago, you’re likely to recall the beautiful views rather than the uncomfortable bed. In other words, the negative details disappear from our memory over time while the positive ones remain.

Rosy retrospection can influence how we make decisions, and it’s one of the reasons why we easily return into problematic relationships. The longer it is since we experienced the negative influence of a relationship, the more likely we are to let the good memories outweigh the bad memories and to perhaps forgive unforgivable behavior. It’s always a good idea to review our nostalgic (怀旧的) feelings with a healthy degree of doubt.

But rosy retrospection does serve an important purpose. It keeps us in a positive state of mind in the present and is important to our psychological wellbeing. In fact, people who tend to remember negative experience s more than positive ones are likely to exhibit psychological disorders. Research generally suggests that our happiest days are still to come. And even if they’re not, it’s still important to believe that they are. Don’t shy away from looking upon the past with a certain degree of nostalgia. But, for the same reason, don’t use the past as an excuse to be unhappy in the present.

1. When we think about the past, we usually __________.

A．improve present living conditions	B．beautify past experiences
C．focus on mind mapping	D．play games to forget bad things

2. What does the underlined phrase “rosy retrospection” in Paragraph 2mean?

A．Having a preference for good memories.	B．Remembering exactly about the details.
C．Concentrating on impossible things.	D．Thinking objectively about the past.

3. Which of the following is encouraged by the author according to Paragraph 4?

A．Reviewing the nostalgic feelings critically.

B．Ignoring the nostalgic feelings absolutely.

C．Forgiving the unacceptable behavior generously.

D．Getting back to the problematic relationships bravely.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward rosy retrospection according to the passage?

A．Negative.

B．Subjective.

C．Favorable.

D．Objective.