1 . How much water does the average adult need to drink every day? “Eight 8-ounce glasses” is common advice, but any truly serious answer to the how-much question will begin with some version of it depends.”

Researchers have long known that a region called SFO in the brain monitors the concentration (浓度) of water and salts in blood and triggers the urge to drink. But they failed to fully explain how we experience thirst. For example, when we gulp a drink, we feel almost instantly satisfied, and yet it takes 10 to 15 minutes for a liquid to enter our bloodstream. Recently neuroscientists have gained other remarkable insights into how thirst is monitored in the body and controlled in the brain.

In a series of elegant experiments with mice, Zimmerman, a neuroscientist, and his associates measured the activity of neurons (神经元) in the SFO. “We saw that their activity changed very fast when the mouse drank water or drank saltwater and when it ate food,” he says. The researchers showed that signals gathered at the SFO from several places. “You get a signal from the blood that tells your current state of hydration (水平衡), a signal from the mouth that tells you how much fluid you drank, and a signal from the gut that tells you what was consumed — was it water, was it something else?” The SFO neurons, he explains, “add these signals together” and then transmit the urge to drink or stop drinking.

The big takeaway of Zimmerman’s work is that for the most part you can trust your thirst system to tell you when you need to drink. But there are exceptions. Because the system’s sensitivity may decline with age. People with certain health conditions, including kidney stones and diarrhea, also need extra water.

Other parts of the brain — the ones used in planning — should help with hydration on hot days and when exercising. Thirsty or not, Zimmerman says, he drinks water before going for a run: “My thirst neurons don’t know I’m about to run 10 miles.”

1. What has long been known about thirst?

A．Thirst experience varies among individuals.

B．Thirst is controlled by the water-salt balance in blood.

C．Thirst satisfaction occurs with water entering bloodstream.

D．Thirst response is influenced by the type of liquid consumed.

2. What’s the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．Why we feel thirst.

B．Where SFO gets signals.

C．How we experience thirst.

D．When SFO neurons get active.

3. What’s the major conclusion from Zimmerman’s study?

A．Thirst system is generally reliable.

B．Illness might affect thirst sensation.

C．Brain areas for planning aid in hydration.

D．Brain adjusts to age-related thirst sensitivity.

4. What may be a suitable title for the text?

A．Drink Your Way to Health

B．Application of the Thirst Mechanisms

C．Misunderstanding of Daily Water Intake

D．Body Detects Daily Water Needs Cleverly

2 . Most people can think of a time when they were in a bad mood after a long day at work and a shop assistant gave them a warm smile. Or maybe they overheard their bus-mate speaking German and ended up filling the morning commute（通勤）with a stimulating conversation about an upcoming trip.

Nicholas Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago conducted a study. Participants speaking to strangers on public transportation during their morning commutes reported having a more enjoyable commute.

Epley shared why speaking to strangers may have such a mood boosting impact. Loneliness, Epley explained, is one of the most dangerous social stressors and is even more physically harmful than obesity（肥胖）. “It’s larger than air pollution, which we spend an awful lot of time worrying about.” Making connections with those around us can reduce loneliness and its harmful impacts.

Despite all the benefits of conversing with strangers, there are some factors that hold people back from new social connections.

Psychologist Gillian Sandstrom thinks that people don’t talk with strangers, simply because most people don’t have the skills or confidence to do so. To address this, she ran London-based events to help people gain confidence in initiating conversations with strangers. Sandstrom said, “By the end, those participants don’t want to stop talking.”

Sandstrom wanted to take this success a step further and she started hosting events where people were forced to talk with strangers. For example, using the app GooseChase, Sandstrom made a campaign that required participants to talk to people with a variety of characteristics. This event was also successful with four fifths of participants sharing that they learned something new, and nearly half hoping to keep in touch with a new-found friend.

People spend so much of our day around strangers, such as in line at the store, on public transportation, and in the office. Why not take advantage of being around people you don’t know? Flash a smile or start up a conversation, and you will make two people’s day nicer.

1. Why does Nicholas Epley mention air pollution?

A．To show the strong impact of loneliness on mood.

B．To highlight the significance of making connections.

C．To introduce the benefits of conversing with strangers.

D．To prove the necessity of creating a good environment.

2. What can we learn about Gillian Sandstrom’s London-based events?

A．They provide new job opportunities.

B．They are highly enjoyed by the participants.

C．They boost people’s confidence in society.

D．They explore why people don’t talk to strangers.

3. How does the author show the success of the app-based campaign?

A．By referring to quotes.	B．By listing examples.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By showing statistics.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To urge people to interact with strangers.

B．To relieve commuters from awkwardness.

C．To help people improve communication skills.

D．To remind people to pay attention to their surroundings.

3 . Some people may be picky eaters, but as a species we are not. Birds, bugs and whales, we’ll eat them all. Yet our reliance on wild animals goes far beyond just feeding ourselves. From agricultural feed to medicine to the pet trade, modern society exploits wild animals in a way that beats even the most aggressive wild predator (捕食者). Now, for the first time, researchers have tried to capture the full picture of how we use wildlife, including how many, and for what purposes. The research showcases just how broad our influence on wild animals is.

In the study, researchers have found that humans kill, collect or otherwise use about 15,000 species. That’s up to 300 times more than the next top predator in any ecosystem.

Yet according to Chris Darimont, a co-author of the study, the biggest shock isn’t how many species we affect but why we take them. “The result,” he says, “is that we remove, or essentially prey on, more species of animals for non-food reasons than for food reasons.”And the biggest non-food use is as pets and pet food. “That’s where things have gone off the rails (轨道),” he says. The problem is especially serious for tropical birds. The helmeted hornbill, for example, is captured mainly for the pe trade, or for its beak to be used as medicine or to be carved like ivory. Their disappearance limits seed dispersal and the spread of trees around the forest.

Another big difference between humans’ influence on wild animals and that of other predators is that we tend to favor rare and exotic (外来的) species in a way other animals do not. Most predators target common species, since they are easier to find and catch. Humans, nowever, tend to covet the novel. “The more rare it is,” say scientists, “the more that drives up the price, and therefore it may go into extinction.”

If we want wild species to survive, we need to reestablish our relationship with them, perhaps from predator to caretaker.

1. What role do humans play in their present relationship with wildlife according to the author?

A．Picky predators.	B．Protectors of biodiversity.
C．Greedy predators.	D．Caretakers of the environment.

2. What shocked scientists most according to Chris Darimont?

A．More species hunted for non-food use.

B．The impact of pet industries on wildlife.

C．The number of species affected by humans.

D．The consequences caused by species extinction.

3. Which can best explain the underlined “cover the novel” in paragraph 4?

A．Long for huge profits.

B．Favor domestic species.

C．Take interest in pet trade.

D．Seek after new and unique things.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To promote stricter rules for hunting.

B．To advocate eco-friendly pet choices.

C．To reveal how humans affect biodiversity.

D．To highlight the need for wildlife conservation.

4 . The harsh winters and modern cities can make life tough for a wild animal, especially when they get lost and are outside their natural habitat for too long. Animal shelters are crowded with animals in desperate need of help, especially during the winter season.     1    

One day, a man found a small owl (猫头鹰) that was soaking wet and appeared to be struggling. He brought it into a local shelter.     2     The little owl was unable to fly, not because of an injury, but because it was too fat.

The owl weighed 245 grams, which was 33% more than the upper limit of what an owl that size should weigh. The reason for the weight gain was quite natural. The owl was eating too much. The winter had been unusually warm, and as a result, the area had a higher than normal population of mice.     3     So it got carried away.

The shelter staff put the owl on a systematic plan of diet and exercise, and it started to lose weight quickly. After some time, the owl was back to its normal health and was released back into the wild.

The question of whether this obesity issue is a strange result of climate change or just a coincidence (巧合) is difficult to say.     4     Wild animals are not used to living in modern cities, and they often struggle to survive. Luckily, there are many animal shelters that offer refuge for these animals. These shelters help restore them to their natural condition and put them back into the wild

    5     Some focus on specific animals, such as owls, while others focus on a particular region. However, they all have the same goal -to provide a safe have n for wild animals.

A．Different types of animal shelters have different purposes.

B．Animal shelters are not just a place for injured or sick animals.

C．This meant that it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the little owl.

D．They are really important when animals struggle to survive in cold weather.

E．After a thorough check-up, the shelter staff found out that it was not injured at all.

F．However, it is clear that it is vital to care for wild animals and to ensure their safety.

G．However, recently, a wild animal was brought to a shelter for a very different reason.

5 . Nancy Beiman was 65. When she was considering retirement from her job as a professor of animation, she had no _________ how she would fill her days. _________ this, she woke up one day with the idea for a comic strip (连环画).

Beiman had been doing her animation mostly on computers but for this new idea, she _________ to drawing characters on paper. The _________ was FurBabies, a series about a mixed family of dogs, a cat and a child who can all speak the same language.

Beiman wasn’t planning on _________ with the idea until she showed them to her friend, the cartoonist Lynn Johnston, who thought _________ of the drawings and gave her advice on how to develop little scripts (脚本).

Obviously, as a professional animator, Beiman was no _________ to working with larger-than-life characters. Even so, she says the _________ from animation to comics wasn’t as easy as it sounds. “Comic strips are about illustrating verbal humour while animation _________ moving images and does not depend on dialogue.”

Following her friend’s __________, she wrote 24 mini-scripts. A few months later, she __________ them to the website GoComics and successfully got __________.

One __________ of moving into comics, Beiman believes, is that it offers some protection from “incredibly ageist” animation studios which __________ to develop stories from younger people. __________, even at 90 you can still do comics. The great thing is, if you can keep drawing, you can keep going.

1.

A．clue

B．option

C．luck

D．prediction

2.

A．Dreaming of

B．Insisting on

C．Puzzling over

D．Missing out

3.

A．referred

B．returned

C．objected

D．admitted

4.

A．concept

B．result

C．phenomenon

D．proof

5.

A．agreeing

B．experimenting

C．interacting

D．continuing

6.

A．highly

B．lightly

C．logically

D．curiously

7.

A．joker

B．cheater

C．stranger

D．talker

8.

A．escape

B．separation

C．exchange

D．switch

9.

A．involves

B．avoids

C．risks

D．resists

10.

A．example

B．guidance

C．heart

D．passion

11.

A．gifted

B．saved

C．distributed

D．submitted

12.

A．refused

B．inspired

C．signed

D．promoted

13.

A．challenge

B．upside

C．honor

D．possibility

14.

A．promise

B．tend

C．proceed

D．fail

15.

A．Moreover

B．Therefore

C．Otherwise

D．However

6 . Antarctica has not always been a land of ice and snow. Earth’s southernmost continent once was home to rivers and forests full of life.

Scientists are using satellite observations and radar imagery to look deep under the ice. The researchers report finding a large ancient landscape buried under the continent’s ice sheet. It is full of valleys and ridges (山脊) , shaped by rivers before being covered by glaciers long ago.

The landscape is located in East Antarctica’s Wilkes Land area bordering the Indian Ocean. The researchers said the landscape appears to date back to at least 14 million years ago and perhaps beyond 34 million years ago, when Antarctica entered its deep freeze.

“It is difficult to know what this lost world might have looked like before the ice came along, but it was certainly warmer back then,” said Stewart Jamieson, a professor at Durham University. “Depending how far back in time you go, you might have had climates that ranged anywhere from the climate of present-day Patagonia through to something more approaching tropical.”

“Such an environment likely would have been populated by wildlife”, Jamieson said. “But the area’s fossil record is too incomplete to know which animals may have lived there.”

The researchers said the surface of the planet Mars is better known than the earth surface below the ice in Antarctica. They said one way to learn more would be to drill through the ice and take a piece of the earth below. This could uncover evidence showing ancient life, as was done with samples taken in Greenland dating back two million years ago.

Jamieson said the researchers think that when Antarctica’s climate was warmer, rivers flowed toward a continental coastline that was created as the other land masses broke away. When the climate cooled, some small glaciers formed on hills next to the rivers. When the climate cooled even more, an ice sheet grew which covered the whole continent, the landscape got preserved, likely for 34 million years.

1. What can we learn about the ancient landscape?

A．It locates in the center of Antarctica.	B．It’s discovered by drilling through the ice.
C．It’s once a warmer area than it is now.	D．It has a history of no more than 14 million years.

2. In Stewart Jamieson’s opinion, why is it hard to know Antarctica’s past animals?

A．There is a lack of complete fossil record.

B．The ice sheet of Antarctica is melting quickly.

C．Scientists lack enough advanced equipment.

D．Climate conditions vary greatly from place to place.

3. Why is the planet Mars mentioned in paragraph 6?

A．To attract more scientists to study Antarctica.

B．To strengthen the importance of the Mars.

C．To indicate the complex situations of the Mars.

D．To show the difficult to know Antarctica’s earth surface.

4. What made the landscape get preserved for such a long time?

A．The colder climate.	B．The protection offered by coastlines.
C．Other land masses’ reduction.	D．A decrease in the number of wildlife.

7 . Changi Community Chub Visit

To Green Ark Fish Farm

WHAT

Green Ark is one of the fish closed fish farms in the world. It is a floating structure about the size

of the two classrooms.
WHERE

Located 5km off Chang Point, the farm can produce 166, 000 kilograms of fish a year. The fish are housed in four enormous tanks. The raised fish include barramundi, red snapper and grouper. They are mainly for local consumption.

HOW

The fish are sale from threat such as all spills (溢油) and other chemicals which could kill them. The aa waler they live in is really clean. Bacteria and viruses are destroyed by ozonation (臭氧化). In this process, oxygen is blown into the tanks every hour. “All these improved conditions ensure that the waler quality remains high. This enables our fish to become healthier,” said Mrs. Linda Tan, spokesperson of Green Ark Fish Farm.

Would you like a glimpse of Green Ark Fish Farm?

For the very first time, Changi Community Club is organizing 5 small-group tours (25 persons each) to Green Ark Fish Farm on the following Saturdays: 6, 13, 20, 27 July. You will have first- hand knowledge of how fish is raised there. The highlight of the tour will be tasty meal of fresh fish chosen by the chefs of Changi Cafe.

Time	Schedule	Cost
1: 00 p. m.	Meet at Changi Ferry Point	$40 per person; Changi Community Club members pay $30 each
1: 15 p. m.	Depart for Green Arh
1: 30 p. m.	Tour of Green Ark
2: 30 p. m.	Return to Changi Point
2: 45 p. m	Dory Fish &Chips Meal at Changi Cafe

For enquiries, please visit the website at 222. changicc. com. sg. Registration will be on a. first-come, first-served basis. Book early to avoid disappointment!

1. What can we know about the fish raised by Green Ark Fish Farm?

A．They are in danger of oil spills.	B．They can swim freely in the ocean.
C．They are mainly sold to local buyers.	D．They could be killed by other chemicals.

2. What does Mrs. Linda mean when she says “the water quality remains high”?

A．The water level is high enough for fish.

B．The water is the same as water from the sea.

C．The water doesn’t contain viruses or bacteria.

D．The water has enough space for fish to swim in.

3. What do you have to do if you want a guaranteed place on the tour?

A．Send an email to the club.	B．Join Changi Community Club.
C．Pay booking fee ahead of time.	D．Register before the places are filled up.

8 . 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。

Centering myself on the ice of the skating rink (溜冰场), I prepared for my skating performance. A confident smile spread across my face. This was the day I’d perform my best skating in a year, attempting a challenging jump known as the axel (前外一周半跳). My friend Caleb yelled from the stands, “You can do it, Harper!” My other friends crossed their fingers. My dad also shouted, “You look beautiful!”

As the music started, I was fully prepared. With a graceful circle, spins, and a broad smile, I began my performance. Everything progressed smoothly until I reached the crucial axel jump. As I prepared to jump, suddenly a mix of excitement and nerves filled me. To be frank, I could do it when I practiced off-ice, but I’d only landed it on-ice several times in my entire life. My coach had strategically placed it at the start of my routine to ensure my legs were at their peak for this demanding move.

I took the leap, but performed a distinct jump. It was a mere half-circle, falling short of the axel’s one and a half. I heard my friends sigh and saw my coach raise an eyebrow.

Determined, I attempted the axel again, but failed. I repeatedly tried and failed, spending so much time on the ice. When my routine ended, my dress was wet and I was far behind the beat. The silence was deafening, marking the most embarrassing moments of my skating career. As I skated away, I could sense the weight of everyone’s stare upon me.

As I made my way to my coach and dad, I heard the crowd cheering for Marlo, a charming eight-year-old, who was gracefully skating past me, leaving me with an intense sense that my skating career had come to an end.

My coach handed me my skate guards, asking if I was improvising (即兴创作) my routine. I didn’t know how to reply. My friends were embarrassed for me, avoiding my eyes. They seemed to discuss me except Caleb, my close friend. He brought me hot chocolate and apologized before skating his own routine.

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。

I felt an urge to go home, but my dad insisted we wait for the results.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With doubt I returned onto the skating rink the next morning.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . The relationship between Jeffrey Pang and his son, Kevin Pang, was like hot-and-sour soup. It boiled over easily. The Pangs, who moved to the United States in 1988, wanted their son and daughter to know Chinese culture. As a video game-playing American teen, Kevin wasn’t interested.

But when Kevin became a food writer for the Chicago Tribune, he realized he had a valuable resource: his cook-laving dad. “My father and I shared, for the first time, a common interest. I would call to ask about recipes and cooking techniques. He would school me on the world of Chinese food,” Kevin writes in the introduction to the cookbook he has just published.

When it comes to cooking Chinese food, he points out that there is no one definition of Chinese food. “Chinese cooking is not hidebound. For example, consider baked pork chop rice, popularized in Hong Kong. It is a pork chop with egg-fried rice. And then you top it with this thick tomato sauce,” explains Kevin. “And then you top that with some cheese. It’s a very interesting combined dish that has some Western British influences, and it’s altogether very Chinese as well.”

By the time Kevin joined America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) staff in 2020 as its editorial director for digital content, his dad had become an Internet celebrity demonstrating the family’s recipes. Kevin recognized an opportunity not only to share his own family’s food stories but also to apply the ATK method of breaking down recipes into simple steps for the home cook.

“I think this cookbook can teach fathers and sons how to connect, how to find a common interest and improve their relationship, ” Kevin says. That feeling has found an enthusiastic fan base, generating nearly 3 million views, for their online cooking series “Hunger Pangs”, where viewers speak highly of their father-son bond as much as they do of their attractive dishes. Today the Pangs’ relationship is rarely sour or hot.

1. Why would Kevin phone his father after becoming a food writer?

A．To publish his Chinese cookbook.	B．To inquire about hot-and-sour soup.
C．To seek permission for video games.	D．To ask about cooking Chinese food.

2. What does the underlined word “hidebound” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Inflexible.

B．Inclusive.

C．Unpleasant.

D．Uncertain.

3. What can we infer about Kevin and his father from the passage?

A．Their relationship has improved.	B．They run America’s. Test Kitchen.
C．They do dishes to attract followers.	D．Their cookbook is about low-fat food.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Cooking at home helps you cook well for less.	B．Father and son jointly teach Chinese cooking.
C．Chinese culture is becoming popular in the us.	D．Recipes and cooking techniques are really easy.

10 . Have you ever found yourself having intrusive (侵扰的) thoughts about something you haven’t finished? Maybe a half-done work project is keeping you up at night or the suspenseful plot of a novel you’re reading keeps circling your thoughts. There is a reason why it’s so hard to stop thinking about uncompleted and interrupted tasks, and psychologists called it the Zeigarnik effect (Z-effect).

The Ziegarnik effect was first observed by a Russian psychologist named Bluma Zeigarnik. While sitting in a busy restaurant in Vienna, Ziegarnik noted that the waiters had better memories of unpaid orders. Once the bill was paid, however, the waiters had trouble remembering the exact details of the orders.

Zeigarnik did a series of experiments, in which participants were asked to complete simple tasks such as putting together puzzles, or solving math problems. Half of the participants were interrupted partway through doing these tasks. After an hour-long wait, Zeigarnik asked the participants to describe what they had been working on. She discovered that the people who had been interrupted in their work were twice as likely to remember what they had been doing as the people who had been able to complete the tasks.

We are living in an information explosion era, and we need mental tricks to help us remember a great deal of information. The Zeigarnik effect serves as a prime example. We hold on to information in the short term by constantly pulling it back into our awareness. By thinking of uncompleted tasks often, we’re more likely to keep remembering them until they get done.

The Zeigarnik effect tells us a lot about how memory works and you can use the Zeigarnik effect to your advantage. If you are struggling to memorize something important, momentary interruptions might work to your advantage. Rather than simply repeating the information, review it a few times, and then take a break. Nevertheless, leaving too many tasks unfinished can lead to feelings of overwhelm and anxiety. Therefore, it’s crucial to use this effect wisely in practical applications.

1. What is the typical characteristic of the Z-effect?

A．Tending to memorize unfinished tasks.	B．Trying to finish various tasks at a time.
C．Performing terribly during a task.	D．Suspending an uncompleted task.

2. What is the function of paragraph 3?

A．To classify a concept.	B．To provide further evidence.
C．To stress the experiment’s complexity.	D．To add some background information.

3. Which is a practical application of the Z-effect?

A．Reading a whole story in one breath.

B．Producing a drama with unexpected endings.

C．Keeping several windows open on your computer.

D．Airing ads during the suspenseful moments in a TV series.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Z-Effect: How Interruptions Enhance Memory

B．The Z-Effect: How to Boost Recall of Finished Tasks

C．The Power of Completing Tasks Ahead of Schedule

D．The Tricks of Developing Long-term Memory