1 . The longest rail link in the world and the first direct link between China and Spain is running after a train from Yiwu completed its journey of 8, 111 miles to Madrid. On the way, it passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving in Madrid. The railway has been considered as the “21st-century Silk Road” by Li Qiang, the governor of Zhejiang province, where Yiwu is located.

The first train was met by the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, and Spain’s minister of public works, Ana Pastor. It consisted of 30 containers carrying 1,100 tonnes of cargo —— mostly toys stationery (文具) and other goods for sale over Christmas across Europe. According to China’s ambassador to Spain, Zhu Banzao, it will return filled with wine, jamon and olive oil in time for the Chinese new year in February.

China is Spain’s biggest trading partner after the EU and it is also Spain’s third largest source of imports (进口产品), after Germany and France. About half of these imports are made up of mobile phones and clothing. The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was in China in September, where he signed deals reported to be worth more than ￡6.3 billion.

A major advantage of the rail route is speed. The train took just three weeks to complete a Journey that takes up to six weeks by sea. It is also more environmentally friendly than road transport, which would produce 1l4 tonnes of CO₂ compared with the 44 tonnes produced by the train —— a 62% reduction.

1. What is the main purpose of running the direct train link?

A．To exchange goods.

B．To celebrate festivals.

C．To improve environment.

D．To make sure of the safety of transport.

2. Which of the following can best describe the train?

A．Green and fast.	B．Quick and expensive.
C．Changeable and productive.	D．Comfortable and fashionable.

3. Which part of a newspaper does the passage come from?

A．News.	B．Environment.
C．Lifestyle.	D．Culture.

4 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Why was Jim unable to find Susan’s home

A．He hadn’t been told how to get there.

B．He forgot to bring the map Susan gave him.

C．He just spent thirteen minutes searching for her house.

2. What does Jim want Susan to do now?

A．Come and get him.

B．Give him a new map.

C．Tell him the direction again.

3. How will Jim go to Susan’s home?

A．On foot.

B．By bike.

C．By bus.

5 . Researchers have proposed a novel method for counting and tracking vehicles on public roads, a development that could improve current traffic systems and help travelers get to their destinations faster.

Using the cameras already installed on campus buses at the Ohio State University, researchers proved that they could automatically and accurately measure counts of vehicles on urban roadways, detect objects in the road and distinguish parked vehicles from those that are moving.

In previous studies, Ohio State researchers found that using these mobile cameras provides much better spatial and temporal (时间的) coverage than relying on often temporarily placed sensors that don’t provide a view of many streets and roads in a city.

“If we collect and process more high-resolution (高清) spatial information about what’s happening on the roads, then planners could better understand changes in demand, effectively improving efficiency in the broader transportation system,” said Keith Redmill, lead author of the study.

“If we can measure traffic in a way that is as good or better than what is conventionally done with fixed sensors, then we will have created something incredibly useful extremely cheaply,” he said. “Our goal is to start building a system that could do this without much manual intervention because if you want to collect this information over lots of potential vehicles and lots of time, it’s worth fully automating that process.”

While still a long way from total implementation (实施), the study suggests the system’s results bear promise for the future of intelligent traffic surveillance. Transportation planners, engineers and operators make vital decisions about the future of our roadways, so when designing transportation systems to work over the next 30 to 50 years, it’s necessary that we give them data that allows them to improve the efficiency of the system and the level of service provided to travelers.

1. How can cameras on buses benefit travelers?

A．By shortening their travel time.

B．By making their schedules tight.

C．By decreasing their transport cost.

D．By improving their safety awareness.

2. What can we know about the sensors placed on buses?

A．They provide more spatial coverage.

B．They can’t detect objects on the road.

C．They cover less view of the urban traffic.

D．They accurately record the flow of traffic.

3. What does the underlined word “surveillance” in paragraph 6 mean?

A．Operation.

B．Monitoring.

C．Protection.

D．Arrangement.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．Transportation automation is on its way

B．It is time to improve the efficiency of traffic system

C．Transportation planners use cameras to make policies

D．Cameras installed on buses can better measure traffic

6 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式，并将本题的答案写在答题卡上

From Edmonton, the train headed southeast across the great Canadian Prairie. At school, Daiyu and Liu Qian     1     (learn) that Canada’s population is only slightly over thirty-seven million. However, they did not anticipate seeing such an open country, and were truly     2     (amaze). They went through two wheat-growing provinces,     3     they saw a bunch of farms that covered a very large area.

After another day on the train,     4     (eventual) they were back in an urban area, the city of Winnipeg. From there, they travelled through the night, and woke up in Ontario —a land of forests and lakes. The train thundered on, through the rolling hills. The     5     ( bush) and maple trees outside their windows were red, gold, and orange, and there was frost on the ground,     6     (confirm) that autumn had arrived in Canada. Night came again, and the train turned south     7     Toronto.     8     they woke up the next morning and     9     (pull)back the curtain, they could see the wide stretch of Lake Huron—one of the four Great Lakes on Ontario’s southern border. It was not until 9: 30 a. m. that they finally reached     10     capital of Ontario, Toronto.

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。

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is road testing a new way to keep winter roads ice-free by spreading on them cheese brine, the salty liquid     1    (use) to make soft cheeses, like mozzarella(马苏里拉奶酪).

Wisconsin, also called “America’s Dairyland”, is famous for its cheese. The state produced 2.8 billion pounds of cheese last year! As a result, there     2    (be) a lot of leftover cheese brine.     3    (dispose) of the brine can be expensive. So what should cheese makers do     4     the waste?

Cheese brine has salt in it,     5    , like the rock salt, helps lower water’s freezing point.

    6    (normal), towns use rock salt to de-ice streets. The salt lowers water’s freezing point, causing ice     7    (melt). But using cheese brine could help both cheese     8    (produce) and cities save money, while keeping roads safe.

In addition to saving money, cheese brine could also be a more eco-friendly option. Many people suspect that all the rock salt used every winter     9    (harm) the environment, because road crews spread about 20 million tons of salt on U. S roads every year!     10    , by spreading cheese brine on streets before adding a layer of rock salt, Milwaukee may be able to cut its rock salt use by 30 percent.

9 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

On Oct 14, 2023, Yongchuan District of Chongqing attracted professionals and academics from across the country to engage in discussions     1     green design and rural vitalization.

As an example of green design and development, Yongchuan District has been the first to offer a     2     (full) driverless robotaxi commercial service to the public. There are dozens of pickup stations across the district     3     (cover) commercial centers, schools and residential areas. Passengers place     4     order on an app and then move to the nearest pickup station.

In just a few minutes, a white vehicle attached a plate, declaring it “self-driving”, pulls over at the station. Passengers     5     (require) to enter the last four numbers of     6     (they) mobile phone number on the digital screen to access the vehicle. Once passengers take the seats, safety     7     (instruction) will be read and the car won’t start until passengers put the seat belts on.

While self-driving cars shuttle passengers back and forth through the district, giving off an atmosphere of science fiction, Songji ancient town, which has a history of more than 2,000 years,     8     (lie) just 40 kilometers away. In recent years, the local government has set up a tourism development management team to protect Songji’s history and culture, and prevent it from over commercialization.

Yongchuan,     9     modernity and heritage coexist, offers valuable insights for the development of other small towns. The city planners have demonstrated that it is possible     10     (preserve) cultural heritage while embracing technological advancement.