1 . Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision loss in children. In all cases of amblyopia, there’s a stronger eye and a weaker eye, and it’s winner-take-all in the cortex (大脑皮层). The cortex learns to ignore the sign al from the weaker eye. By ignoring the weaker eye, the brain doesn’t fuse (融合) images from both eyes. As a result, people with amblyopia can have trouble seeing in 3D.

In an attempt to solve this problem, doctors start treating patients with amblyopia at a young age, while their brain pathways are still developing. The children, usually under 7 years old, are often told to wear an eye patch over their strong eye to force the brain to rely on the weaker. But whenever the eye pa tech is removed, the competition can start over. For lasting improvement, new treatments need to teach the brain to stop suppressing (抑制) key visual cues coming from the weaker eye, says neuroscientist Dennis Levi of the University of California.

Now, several research teams are taking a new way that aims to get the brain to make better use of the information coming from both eyes. Several companies are working on treatment s based on this new angle. One is called Luminopia.

Luminopia’s therapy involves having children watch videos through a virtual reality headset. As the children watch, the headset blocks out certain parts of the display for each eye, so the patients actually have to combine input from the two images to get the full video.

The company conducted a trial showing that children with amblyopia begin to see better on eye chart assessments after three months of one-hour sessions done six days a week. But they have yet to measure improvements in long-term effectiveness. It is believed that if people with amblyopia don’t learn to fuse signals from both eyes from a young age, they never will. So some scientists think attempting to treat adults, whose brains have suppressed signals from their weak eye for decades, is a lost cause.

1. Why does a person with amblyopia have trouble seeing in 3D?

A．His brain is unable to receive images.	B．His weaker eye fails to receive signals.
C．His stronger eye can't send signals to the brain.	D．His cortex overlooks signals from the weaker eye.

2. Which of the following best describes the effect of an eye patch?

A．Temporary.

B．Ineffective.

C．Wonderful.

D．Comprehensive.

3. What is the working principle of Luminopia’s therapy?

A．Forcing the brain to rely on the weaker eye.

B．Activating the weak eye to get the full video.

C．Improving the situations with eye chart assessments.

D．Blocking out the images received from the stronger eye.

4. What can we learn about Luminopia’s therapy from the last paragraph?

A．It has an instant effect.	B．Adults are its main targets.
C．It has long-term effectiveness.	D．More trials need to be conducted.

2 . The greatest sports moments often have a wonderful flow state behind the victories or performances. Being in flow refers to the moments where distraction reduces, and concentration ________ .

It was a _______ summer camp ping pong tournament where I was not only down I set, but 7 points behind my opponent (对手), who had only 3 points left to ________ the set, and the tournament. For a comeback, I had to win at least 10 points, without making ________ !

Facing the desperate situation, I could ________ it a day and let my opponent win. Perhaps my opponent had already focused on the ________, but failure wasn’t an option! Thus, I ________ it out, hoping for the best. I told myself, “Let’s just try and win the next point, nothing else.” ________ deep, I stared at the ball with a clear mindset and keen ________. I took it, hit it back and scored!

5 points to go, 4 points to go... My opponent started getting visibly ________ and made mistakes. Point by point I was getting closer to being even.7-8. I was one point away from doing the ________. My mouth was shut and my eyes stayed ________ the entire set. He made another error. 8-8. The comeback was complete. The crowd went ________! Winning the next 3 points, I managed to win that set. In the last set, my opponent turned restless again. ________ the flow, I ended up winning the final set, and the tournament.

Despite a small game, it inspired me a lot. Not being able to control how our opponent plays, we can _______ how to react. Don’t be there, where you are not. Instead, be here and now! Stay in flow! Be concentrated!

1.

A．limits

B．decreases

C．heightens

D．changes

2.

A．tough

B．competitive

C．crazy

D．close

3.

A．lose

B．win

C．tie

D．restart

4.

A．adjustments

B．reservations

C．efforts

D．mistakes

5.

A．call

B．make

C．leave

D．take

6.

A．defense

B．attack

C．celebration

D．relief

7.

A．figured

B．tried

C．pointed

D．stuck

8.

A．Sighing

B．Breathing

C．Regretting

D．Struggling

9.

A．attention

B．interest

C．insight

D．appreciation

10.

A．confused

B．desperate

C．exhausted

D．uneasy

11.

A．right

B．impossible

C．opposite

D．previous

12.

A．swollen

B．bright

C．sharp

D．bloodshot

13.

A．wild

B．silent

C．mad

D．deaf

14.

A．Going against

B．Cutting off

C．Holding to

D．Recovering from

15.

A．wonder

B．determine

C．predict

D．consider

3 . This week I saw a video of a mountain climber lying on the back of the Sherpa guide who helped rescue him.

Gelje says he was_______a client toward the summit ofEverest last month when he noticed another climber_______a rope, alone, in what's called Everest's“death_______”.These are the highest_______, where temperatures can drop below minus 30 degrees Celsius, where human cells begin to________without oxygen.

Gelje stopped the climb of his own client. Then he rescued the________stranger, left hanging for his life,and________him for about six hours, to an area called theSouth Col, where another guide joined in the_______.

“We________the climber in a sleeping mat,”Gelje said,“dragged him on the snow, or carried him in______ on our backs to Camp Three, which is still more than 7,000 meters high.”

A helicopter met them to lift the________climber down to the base camp. He was taken to a hospital, and has since returned home to Malaysia.

We don't know how the Malaysian climber_______himself in danger. But the two guides who grow up in and know those________saw a stranger in danger, and risked their own lives to________him. As Gelje said,“Saving one life is more________than praying at the church.”

1.

A．urging

B．sponsoring

C．guiding

D．contacting

2.

A．hanging onto

B．spreading out

C．checking on

D．passing down

3.

A．foot

B．sea

C．climate

D．zone

4.

A．destinations

B．directions

C．reaches

D．ranges

5.

A．wander

B．die

C．multiply

D．dry

6.

A．freezing

B．missing

C．appealing

D．demanding

7.

A．supported

B．dragged

C．pressed

D．comforted

8.

A．conversation

B．activity

C．rescue

D．operation

9.

A．lied

B．relaxed

C．wrapped

D．lifted

10.

A．tears

B．pain

C．need

D．turns

11.

A．injured

B．frightened

C．committed

D．trapped

12.

A．found

B．ensured

C．exposed

D．behaved

13.

A．cliffs

B．caves

C．mountains

D．rivers

14.

A．protect

B．caution

C．approach

D．save

15.

A．extraordinary

B．important

C．selfless

D．available

4 . 假定你是李华，高考后到英国探亲，偶然在报纸上看到下面的广告。请写一封电子邮件应聘该岗位，要点如下：
1. 提出申请；
2. 列举自己的优势；
3. 询问相关信息。

Volunteer Firefighter Wanted Job type: Part-time Work time: August Location: Southern Pines, NC 28387 Volunteers are responsible for maintaining, inspecting and cleaning department vehicles and other associated equipment.

注意：1. 写作词数应为80个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Sir or Madam,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Chinese researchers have revealed the anti-cancer characteristic of neutrophils (中性粒细胞) — a type of white blood cells—and the related molecular regulation mechanism, providing new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment. The discovery, made by researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University, was published in Cell on Tuesday.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in the human body. As the first line of defence against infections, they play a key role in anti-infection immunity. The researchers collected neutrophils from 143 patients with 17 different types of cancer and analyzed them. They revealed that neutrophils can adopt at least 10 highly specialized and distinct functional states related to inflammation (炎症) , blood vessel formation and—most excitingly—presenting antigens (抗体) to activate powerful cancer-killing T cells.

“We were surprised to find such complexity and different roles within neutrophils, which have been ignored for so long,” said Zhang Xiaoming, a researcher at the Institute. “What is especially remarkable is their newly discovered capacity to act as antigen-presenting cells, gathering T cells against cancer. In addition, the abundance of antigen-presenting neutrophils is associated with improved condition across many cancer types revealed in this study,” he said.

“This completely changes how we perceive neutrophils in the context of cancer,” said Gao Qiang, a professor at Fudan University. “Now we know we could employ the diverse hidden identities of neutrophils to strengthen the effectiveness of immunotherapy (免疫疗法). We’re thrilled to further explore the potential benefits of these newly uncovered mechanisms in clines.”

The study emphasizes the value of single-cell sequencing approaches to reveal new functional dimension even within seemingly well-understood immune cells. Tapping into the hidden potential of neutrophils may provide new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment.

1. How was the anti-cancer function of neutrophils discovered?

A．By referring to previous research.

B．By collecting and analyzing data.

C．By seeking guidance from experts.

D．By observing patients with inflammation.

2. Which of the following is a function of neutrophils?

A．Getting together T cells when needed.

B．Preventing the formation of antigens.

C．Speeding up the blood flow.

D．Distinguishing different types of cancer.

3. What’s Gao Qiang’s attitude towards the new research?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Worried.

D．Unclear.

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

A．Blood Cells Successfully Fight Against Severe Cancer

B．China Makes Great Progress in Fighting Against Diseases

C．Further Research Is Needed to Fight Against Cancer

D．Researchers Discover New Cancer-fighting Mechanism

6 . Imagine a horizontal line. The very left is marked one thousand and the very right is marked one billion. On this line, where would you add a marker to represent one million? If you said somewhere in the middle, you answered the same as the roughly 50 percent of people who have done this exercise in a number line study. But the answer is actually much closer to one thousand since there are one thousand millions in one billion.

This error makes sense because “our human brains are pretty bad at comprehending large numbers,” says Elizabeth Toomarian, an educational neuroscientist at Stanford University. Our brain is built to understand how much of something is in its environment. But comprehending the national debt or imagining the size of our universe? “We certainly can use our brains in that way, but we’re recycling these sorts of evolutionarily (进化地) old brain architectures to do something really new,” she says. In other words, it’s not our fault that we have trouble wrapping our heads around big numbers.

So what can we do about the struggle to understand big numbers? It is suggested to use metaphors, analogies (类比) and visualizations. These techniques bring big numbers down to a more comprehensible scale (比例) and ideally make it relevant to something in our daily lives. For example, it may be difficult for most people to accurately place the extinction of the dinosaurs on a timeline between the Big Bang and humans because the first two both seem to be placed to the distant path. But when conceptualizing (概念化) these events using a “calendar”, it becomes easier. The Big Bang occurred at 12 a.m. on January 1st on the calendar. Dinosaurs were only present for roughly the last week of the year. And humans only emerged in the last eight sends December 31st, at 12:59:52 p.m. It’s clear now that dinosaurs are much closer to humans than the Big Bang on a timeline.

These metaphors and analogies are important if people are to really weigh the costs and benefits of events in their lives. The concept not only applies to long-term decisions, but public policies.

1. Why does the author mention the example in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To explain the main idea.
C．To make a summary of the text.	D．To make comparisons with other topics.

2. According to Toomarian, what’s to blame for being unable to work out big numbers?

A．The lack of conceptual techniques.

B．The unwillingness to learn something new.

C．Our low ability to evaluate and compare.

D．Our inborn nature due to evolutionary factors.

3. What is recommended for the understanding of big numbers?

A．Making them related to each other.

B．Wrapping our heads around them.

C．Using techniques to put them to a smaller scale.

D．Applying a calendar to present them.

4. What will probably be further discussed in the following paragraph?

A．How to make long-term decisions.

B．How metaphors and analogies help solve public problems.

C．How to weigh the costs and benefits in our life.

D．How important public policies are in our life

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，并将答案填写在答题卡上。

The Yingge dance is a combination of opera, dance and wushu. Typically, the dance     1     (perform) during festivals and celebrations, with dancers wearing colorful costumes and carrying masks, snakes, spears and drums. Its rich history and cultural     2     (significant) have earned it the distinction of being classified as a national intangible cultural heritage (遗产) in China.

On Chinese New Year, a Yingge team     3     (consist) of 16 dancers from the Chaoshan region of Guangdong Province gave a wonderful performance in London. The event provided     4     unique opportunity for UK residents to experience the richness and diversity of Chinese culture.

The dance team’s commitment     5     their craft was evident in their preparation. For over a month, they devoted     6     (they) to perfecting their performance, ensuring every step, every gesture, and every beat was in harmony. The dancers, many of     7     had more than 15 years of performance experience, showed their devotion to preserving this ancient art form.

So far, the Yingge dance     8     (cross) borders, attracting audiences in foreign countries such as Thailand. The celebration of the Spring Festival has become a global phenomenon, with “Spring Festival Parades”     9     (hold) in several countries each year. Nearly one-fifth of the world’s population now celebrates the Chinese New Year in     10     (vary) styles, reflecting the growing influence of Chinese culture worldwide.

8 . During the last week of Fu Bao’s public viewing earlier this month, visitors endured waiting for 5—6 hours just to give a glance at the panda for only five minutes, as Everland Panda World restricted viewing time to manage the flood of visitors.

Born to parents Ai Bao and Le Bao in July 2020, Fu Bao is South Korea’s first naturally-born panda. In the days following her birth, Everland’s social media channels offered fans a steady diet of Fu Bao videos, pulling in more than 1.2 million subscribers and, as of February, over 500 million accumulated views. The most recent videos are now filled with warm and sincere messages from viewers.

Thanks to Fu Bao’s widespread popularity, her zookeeper has also found himself in the spotlight, becoming a bit of a social media star himself. Often referred to as her grandpa, Kang Chul-won offered hi own farewell message to Fu Bao, noting that the South Koreans’ special love for her all began with social media videos shared during the pandemic when the zoo was closed. She brought help and happiness to a society in many ways that was having a difficult time due to the virus. He said people visited the social media sites every day so it felt like he was raising her together with them. They cared so much for her and shared the same emotions of raising a baby panda together during such difficult times.

Fu Bao will be transferred to China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan Province. Everland says that she will be kept alone at Everland Panda World for a month to prepare her to adjust to her new environment before her overseas transfer, which will be carried out in accordance with international rules.

1. What can we learn about Fu Bao from the first two paragraphs?

A．She has a balanced diet.	B．She is five years old.
C．She is very popular in South Korea.	D．She came from Sichuan, China.

2. What do South Koreans think of Fu Bao?

A．She is a live symbol of luck and fortune.

B．She is an animal who can resist any virus.

C．She is an inspiration to overcome difficulties.

D．She is their common possession and business.

3. What will Fu Bao do a month before leaving South Korea?

A．She will go on show in Everland.	B．She will be separated for adjustment.
C．She will leave Everland Panda World.	D．She will be moved to a research center.

4. What does the underlined phrase “in accordance with” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．On behalf of.	B．In terms of.
C．In company with.	D．In agreement with.

9 . When it comes to happiness, our present selves habitually get deprived (剥夺).     1     In the middle of a busy workday, you think, “I’ll be happy when I get this done.” When you get the task done, you think, “I’ll be happy when I’m on vacation…”

When we are doing these, it’s as if we put true happiness in a package addressed to us at some future time when circumstances will be just right for it to happen. Yet, the package keeps getting lost.     2    

What causes this? How can we avoid this result? We should know the reason why we make such choices and why our future selves seem like strangers to us is partially due to the abstractness of tomorrow. The solution is to make the future more vivid and create an emotional connection between the present and future selves. Here are several ways to strengthen the connection.

    3     Write a letter to your future self and send back a reply. Then you may gain insights into your future self’s needs that would get you to take helpful action now.

Visualize the best version of yourself.     4     Importantly, focus on the contrast between now and later. What are the barriers that stand in the way of turning into that ideal future later? Once you recognize them, you could start working on them now.

Imagine yourself in old age. Looking back at now, what do you wish you would have done more or differently with your time?     5     And how can you prioritize the future now, so that when you look back on it later, you think of it fondly?

Once you do such things, you will make choices that will benefit both your present self and future self.

A．Start a conversation between the selves.

B．What will your future self thank you for?

C．We often put feeling happy to the future us.

D．Learn to communicate with others through letters.

E．What impression did you leave on those around you?

F．This can make what you do today for the future more worthwhile.

G．As a result, we are left without enjoyment of the moment in front of us.

10 . 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。

Every week I save all the change and $1 bills I have in my purse. Then every Christmas I cash it in for as many $100 bills as the saved money gets me. I then wait for a family in need. I split the money in half and give half to the family in need and the other half to my nine-year-old son, Say’ Veon, who puts it in his savings account, to teach him about delayed satisfaction. Then he helps me get gifts or give the money to the family.

I adopted Say’ Veon after his mother, a close friend of mine, passed away from cancer before his fifth birthday. Even though Say’ Veon has dealt with great loss and sadness at such a young age, his generous spirit and loving heart shine through. He has given money to someone else who needs it more, such as his friends or classmates. Say’ Veon’s acts of kindness always blow me away and I feel blessed to have him in my life.

This week I got a call from a friend, DeeDee, who is 77 years old. She was upset because she had been cheated, and the cheaters took all the money out of her checking account which she lives on, and now she didn’t have the money to pay her rent and bills.

This morning, I took the money and showed Say’ Veon how much I saved this year. I told him what happened to DeeDee, and then asked him if he would be willing to give his half along with my half and donate it to her as our person in need this year.

He said, “Yes, of course.” This year our total was $400.

We went to visit DeeDee and my son handed her a Christmas card with the money. She opened it and said, “Thank you.” She then looked again and stared at the $100 bills.

注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

DeeDee froze there with her eyes wide open.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suddenly, Say’ Veon said to DeeDee, “You are our family!”

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