1 . Confessions of an annoying Mosquito

If you’re reading my confessions (自白), congratulations! You’ll have a safe and healthy summer.

We love when you work up a sweat. It’s really the carbon dioxide you breathe out that makes us beeline to ward you, not the fragrance of your “sweet blood.”

Love beer? So do some of us. They can tell when you’ve been drinking because your skin chemistry changes, and it attracts them

Pregnant? Yum. If you’re having a baby, you emit more carbon dioxide and your belly has a higher temperature, drawing some of us right to you. Sorry, baby.

Hate getting bitten up? Blame the ladies. Males do not eat human blood: They get all their nutrition from plants. After we have a blood meal, we can lay anywhere from 100 to 400 eggs

Smelly feet are simply delicious. Scientists have shown we find your toes ten times more inviting than Limburger cheese.

If your home’s landscaping is well tended, we won’t like it as much. We like to hang out in thick, overgrown vegetation. The darker and more damp, the better. And puddles (水沟) of smelly water is where we like to lay our eggs.

Got those CO₂-emitting traps in your yard? Great! You may think you’re outsmarting us with these devices, which emit carbon dioxide to lure (引诱) us into a trap. But they may attract more of us than they are able to trap, increasing our presence in your yard.

When it comes to West Nile, end-of-summer bites may do more harm. It’s simple logic: We bite birds with West Nile virus; then we bite humans and spread it. By summer’s end, we’ve had more chances to bite infected birds.

1. What can we know from the confessions?

A．Mosquitoes love smelly toes most.

B．All the mosquitoes suck drinking people.

C．The mosquito making the confessions is female.

D．Mosquito bites in early summer are more harmful.

2. Which of the following is least likely to attract “WE” according to the text?

A．A woman who is expecting.	B．A yard with traps emitting oxygen.
C．A man who has just finished jogging.	D．A house surrounded with smelly puddles.

3. What is the tone of the text?

A．Amusing.

B．Serious.

C．Sad.

D．Proud.

2 . Top Theme Parks and Amusement Parks in Australia

Magic Mountain Merimbula

Located in the town of Merimbula, this small theme park is situated on the Sapphire Coast. There are multiple attractions in this place including Kiddie Splash Pool, Magic Carpet Slide and the Diamond Pyth on Roller Coaster. You can buy souvenirs from the gift shops for friends and family back home.

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10 am to 4 pm

Price: $90 per person

The Big Banana Fun Park

The Big Banana Fun Park is located in the city of Coffs Harbour and it boasts a large walk-through banana. Guests can go roller skating at the ice-skating rink, enjoy water slides and play golf.

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 9 am to 5 pm

Price: $25 per adult (age 13-99); $15 per child (age 1-12)

Wet Wild Gold Coast

Owned and operated by the Village Roadshow Theme Parks, this park features 17 water slides, 4 pools, and 2 children’s areas. If you are traveling during the winter season, there is nothing to worry as the pools and slides are heated according to your convenience.

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10 am to 5 pm

Price: $24 per person

Big Splash Waterpark

Featuring nine slides, a 50-meter (164 feet) pool, and kiddie pools, this park is a perfect spot to chill when the sun is out. Being one of the oldest theme parks in Australia, it boasts the famous Jammo Pool.

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm

Price: $150 per adult (age 13-99); 40% discount per child (age 1-12)

Enjoy with your kids at one of the theme parks in Australia.

1. What can visitors do in The Big Banana Fun Park?

A．Ride on a roller coaster.	B．Play golf.
C．Buy gifts.	D．Taste big bananas.

2. How much will 8-year-old twins pay if they go to Big Splash Waterpark?

A．$60.

B．$90.

C．$120.

D．$180.

3. Who is the text most probably intended for?

A．Parents.

B．Children.

C．Guides.

D．Swimmers.

3 . Reading is often seen as an individual activity, but it definitely doesn’t have to be. If you join a book club, reading with others can be a positive social interaction.     1     And here are some of the ways that becoming part of a book club can better your life.

    2     If so, a book club can help you discover and explore new types, authors, and perspectives (观点). According to a recent survey, 57 percent of book clubbers said they wouldn’t otherwise have read some of the books selected by their book clubs.

In such a fast-paced world, sometimes it’s challenging to find the time and motivation to read. By joining a book club, you make a commitment to read the book of the month or the week and discuss your insights with others.     3    

Reading is one of the most important things you can do for your brain, but reading with other people can make it even better.     4     Being part of a book club can improve your learning skills, such as your memory, comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills. By discussing the book with others, you are exercising your brain and stimulating new neural (神经的) connections. Book clubs allow you to connect with other readers and learn from their perspectives.

Another plus is that at a book club you get together with your club members regularly, with whom you can share not only your thoughts about books but also other aspects of life.    5     Therefore, by reading with others, you are enriching your heart as well as your mind. So what are you waiting for? Join a book club now and enjoy the many benefits of reading with others!

A．This can help you meet your reading goals.

B．Joining a book club can offer you many benefits.

C．Book clubs can boost your happiness and well-being.

D．Do you often have difficulty finishing reading a book?

E．This brings a sense of community, belonging, and friendship.

F．Have you found yourself always reading similar types of books?

G．Meeting with others and exchanging ideas about things is the key.

4 . Four Inventions That Changed the World

The course of human evolution has been filled with inventions. The following inventions changed the world in one way or another.

Match

Many of us wonder what life was like before matches. We can thank a British pharmacist and his dirty mixing stick. In 1820s, John Walker noticed a dried lump on the end of a stick while he was stirring a mix of chemicals. When he tried to scrape (刮掉) it off, flames appeared. The initial matches were made of cardboard but soon the matches came in a box equipped with a piece of sandpaper for striking.

Penicillin

Penicillin was discovered in 1928 when a young bacteriologist, Alexander Fleming, was tidying up his lab. After having been on vacation, he returned to work to find that a dish of Staphylococcus bacteria had been left uncovered, and he noticed that mould (霉菌) on the culture had killed many of the bacteria. His further research found that it could kill other bacteria.

Microwave Oven

Of all the sci-fi kitchen appliances, the microwave oven really relieves the load on housewives. It was discovered in the 1940s. When Percy Spencer, an engineer, was working on a magnetron (磁控管), he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had started to melt due to the microwaves. Spencer found that indeed, when food was placed in the box with the microwave energy, it cooked quickly.

Plastic

The first plastic was invented in 1907 by Leo Hendrik Baekeland. His initial quest was to invent a ready replacement for shellac (虫胶), an expensive product got from lac beetles. Baekeland combined formaldehyde (甲醛) with a waste product of coal, and heated the mixture. Rather than a shellac-like material, he created a substance that didn’t melt under heat and stress.

1. Who invented matches?

A．John Walker.	B．Alexander Fleming.
C．Percy Spencer.	D．Leo Hendrik Baekeland.

2. What had Leo Hendrik Baekeland originally intended to invent?

A．A shellac-like material.	B．A product from lac beetles.
C．A replacement for shellac.	D．A waste product of coal.

3. What do the four inventions have in common?

A．They were the results of joint efforts.	B．They were the accidental discoveries.
C．They were the fruits of years of research.	D．They were unaccepted when coming out.

5 . 假设你是晨光中学的李津。为了帮助我们更好地提升自己，你校英语社团的微信公众号开展了以“How to Improve Yourself”为题的征文活动。现请你投稿，结合课文所学内容，文章应包括：
(1)“How to Improve Yourself”活动的目的；
(2)你的建议和措施，至少三条。（如戒掉网瘾，理智消费等）；
(3)你的感受。

How to Improve Yourself

At present, our school is launching How to Improve Yourself campaign. ...

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6 . What has Peter been doing to annoy Wendy?

A．Studying late at night.

B．Using up all the milk.

C．Leaving the milk out.

7 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Why was Misty worried about Matthew meeting Father Christmas?

A．He was too excited.

B．He has health problems.

C．He is afraid of strangers.

2. What caused Matthew’s blindness?

A．That he had an accident.

B．That he was born too early.

C．That he had a terrible fever.

3. Which one of the doctor’s judgments turned to be wrong?

A．That Matthew had learning difficulties.

B．That Matthew was unable to walk.

C．That Matthew couldn’t talk.

4. How did Matthew feel when he met Father Christmas?

A．Relieved.

B．Confused.

C．Excited.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Why does Lisa want the new job?

A．It pays more money.

B．It offers her career advancement.

C．It will be easy as she’s done it before.

2. How did Lisa find out about the job?

A．From an advertisement.

B．From a co-worker.

C．From someone who works there.

3. How many children does Lisa have?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

9 . The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their work on mRNA vaccines (疫苗), a crucial tool in holding back the spread of COVID-19.

Karikó,68, is from Hungary. In the 1970s, she began studying a new area of research: messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA is a special molecule (分子) which carries instructions that tell cells what proteins to make. Proteins are one of the building blocks of life. They’re involved in almost every process in living things, from fighting diseases to building muscles to helping our bodies work. Karikó was excited about the idea that mRNA could be used to help the body fight many different diseases.

In 1985, Karikó moved to America to continue her research. In 1989, she joined the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in Philadelphia as a scientist. But as time went on, the initial excitement surrounding mRNA research started to disappear, and other scientists thought it was too financially risky to fund. Karikó had trouble getting money for her research. She even got a pay cut from the school. What’s worse, at this time, she suffered from cancer. But she stuck at it.

Karikó got to know another UPenn scientist, Drew Weissman in the late 1990s while photocopying research papers. He was hoping to find a way to create a vaccine for a disease known as HIV. The two began talking and soon decided to work together.

One of the biggest problems in using mRNA as a medicine was that the human body saw mRNA as an enemy and fought it off. Together, they came up with an approach to treating mRNA．In 2005, they published their key discovery: mRNA could be changed and delivered effectively into the body to activate (激活) the body’s protective immune system. Thanks to their work, companies were able to develop mRNA vaccines far more quickly than ever before, which have saved millions of lives around the world.

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about regarding mRNA?

A．Its reflections on health.	B．Its main components.
C．Its threats to proteins.	D．Its research values.

2. What can we learn about Weissman according to the text?

A．He met Karikó by accident.	B．He applied mRNA to HIV.
C．He invited Karikó to UPenn.	D．He helped discover mRNA.

3. What is Karikó and Weissman’s scientific breakthrough?

A．Their idea on how to recognize COVID-19 fast.

B．Their method of testing the mRNA vaccines’ effect.

C．Their way to make the human body accept mRNA.

D．Their experiment of activating the immune system.

4. What can we learn from Karikó’s story?

A．We should pursue excellence in our careers.

B．Creativity results from challenging authority.

C．Scientists’ work follows technological trends.

D．Success comes from a lasting desire to explore.

10 . As the summer heat builds,we couldn’t help but wonder. Is there anybody in the world who doesn’t love ice cream? Ice cream may be universally appealing, but many countries have their own version.

Frozen custard, United States

Different from frozen yogurt, which is made with cultured yogurt and sugar, frozen custard is a combination of milk, cream, sugar and eggs. When it comes to its flavors, Americans typically have a choice between vanilla or chocolate. Dairy Queen, the Midwest fast food restaurant chain, and Culver’s and Carvel are all popular go-to spots in the US.

Raspado, Mexico

While snow cones(雪糕筒)are made using massively sweet syrup(糖浆), raspados have real fruits or fresh fruit juices.The sweet and cold treat is common throughout Mexico and sold at street carts.You won’t find Mexicans eating their raspados in cones.They’re only served in cups.

Gelato, Italy

Italian gelato is lower in fat than traditional ice cream and mixed with whole milk, eggs, sugar and flavoring. In Italy，gelato is served using a spatula(小铲)that presses the cool treat into a cup or cone. Finardi’s go-to in Milanis probably the best shop in Italy which specializes in chocolate flavors.

Dondurma, Turkey

Dondurma is made with milk and sugar.The sellers usually offer flavors such as vanilla and melon. Buying dondurma is like watching a performance.The men who sell it wear traditional Turkish costume and hat, twist and turn the ice cream until it lands into a cone. Kids and adults get a kick out of the show. If you want to taste it, you can buy their dondurma from a street cart or at a fair.

1. Which ice creams may attract chocolate lovers?

A．Frozen custard and Gelato!

B．Raspado and Gelato.

C．Frozen custard and Dondurma.

D．Gelato and Dondurma.

2. What is special about Dondurma?

A．Its flavors.

B．Its ingredients.

C．Its producing process.

D．Its selling way.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A travel brochure.

B．A health blog.

C．A cuisine magazine.

D．An advertisement.