1 . For the decade between the end of the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, the ride-hailing app Uber boomed. The company’s business model relied on the flexibility of the rapidly-growing gig economy(零工经济), and its sky-high valuation directly represented its dominant market position.     1    .

Now its sufferings illustrate how those trends are shifting again. After almost a decade of being able to rely on cheap and swift Ubers to get around, city residents must get used to a new experience. A shortfall of British drivers got so bad that the chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi met with unions to recruit new workers on a visit to London.

There are some factors accounting for this shortage. During lock-downs few were taking trips, but with the reopening, and the urge to mingle(社交往来)again, came a sudden bounce-back(反弹). Uber said that demand in London had risen by about a fifth in 2021 and even more in smaller UK cities.     2    .

The flexibility and casual working arrangements that once so benefited the company now work in reverse in times of labour shortage.     3    . Uber has been forced to raise charges in London and offers a bonus if drivers can recruit others.

In the past two years, the price of an Uber has increased by 92 percent, according to Rakuten Intelligence. Higher prices are likely to be here to stay.     4    . Perhaps, then, Uber will demonstrate just how abnormal the decade between the end of the financial crisis and the arrival of the pandemic really was. The era of cheap Ubers may be at an end.

A．Workers have little, or no, loyalty to the company and can switch between different apps depending on which offers the better, or closer, ride

B．The government is now racking its brain to figure out ways to help support Uber to get through this difficult time.

C．The prospect of this huge industry cannot be underestimated.

D．In the meantime, thousands of drivers had found other jobs; even while economies were locked down drivers were still needed for takeaway and online shopping deliveries.

E．The question is what happens when more normal circumstances return.

F．It even sparked the word “Uberisation” to describe how its example helped transform industries, jobs and society.

2 . Extreme sorrow claws my mind. I am a statistic. When I first got here. I felt very much lonely. I found no sympathy. I saw only thousands of others whose bodies were as badly mangled as mine. I was given a number and placed in a category, which was called “traffic death”.

The day I died was an ordinary school day. How I wish I had taken the bus! But I was too cool for the bus. I remember how I wheedled (哄骗) the car out of Mom. “Special favor,” I pleaded. “All the kids drive.” After school, I rushed to the parking lot, excited at the thought of driving a car and being my own boss.

It doesn’t matter how the accident happened, I was going too fast taking crazy chances. But I was enjoying my freedom and having fun. The last thing I remember was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully slow. I heard a crash and felt a terrific shake. Glass and steel flew everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself scream.

Suddenly, I awakened. It was very quiet. I saw a police officer and a doctor. I was saturated with blood. Pieces of jagged glass were sticking out all over. Strange that I couldn’t feel anything. Hey, don’t pull that sheet over my head. I can’t be dead. I’m only 17. I’m supposed to have a wonderful life ahead of me. I haven’t lived yet. I can’t be dead!

Later I was placed in a drawer. My folks came to identify me. Why did they see me like this? Why did I have to look at Moms eyes when she faced the most terrible ordeal of her life? Dad suddenly looked very old. He told the man in charge, “Yes — he is our son.”

Please — somebody — wake me up! Get me out of here. I can’t bear to see Mom and Dad in such pain. My grandparents are so weak from grief they can barely walk. My brother and sister move like robots.

Please don’t bury me! I’m not dead! I promise if you give me just one more chance, God. I’ll be the most careful driver in the whole world. All I want is one more chance. Please, God, I’m only 17.

1. Why did the writer become a statistic?

A．Because he was majoring in statistics (统计学) in the school.

B．Because he felt very lonely at that moment.

C．Because he was dead due to a traffic accident.

D．Because he made a fatal mistake in statistics.

2. Where did the traffic accident take place?

A．On the way to the school.	B．On the way home.
C．Near a police station.	D．Near an old lady’s house.

3. What was the cause of the accident?

A．I was driving too fast.

B．I was too young to drive.

C．I wanted to avoid knocking down an old lady.

D．I was not familiar with the road condition.

4. Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?

A．How careless a young driver is!	B．Dead at 17.
C．An avoidable tragedy.	D．Safe drive on the road.

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Many drivers dream of the day     1     they can sit back while their car drives itself.     2     several companies are working hard to make it a reality, self-driving cars still face many problems.

Google was one of the first     3     (get) into this industry. It     4     (develop) self-driving cars since 2009, and its new driverless car is called Firely.

But the driverless car is only a “fair weather friend”, the Daily Mail     5     (comment).

According to the MIT Technology Review, the current driverless cars can’t react like a human driver. They can’t drive in heavy rain or snow.

Chris Urmson, director of the Google car team, said that this is because the detection technology is not yet good enough to separate certain objects from weather conditions. In the cars’eyes, raindrops and snowflakes are the same     6     rocks, and cars stop for them. But if the manhole (下水道入口) ahead is uncovered, they drive over it without hesitation.

    7     all these problems, Urmson said driverless cars will happen more quickly than people think.

But even at that time, driverless cars won’t be truly “driverless”.

In the US, only     8     someone sits in the driver’s seat are driverless cars allowed on roads in certain states.

European countries, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Russian follow the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic. The convention used to say: “Every driver     9     at all times be able to control his vehicle.” A change was agreed in May,     10     (allow) a car to drive itself as long as a driver is in the car and able to take the wheel at any time.

4 .

A．They were packing up their stuff.

B．They were watching a car race.

C．They narrowly escaped a car crash.

D．They got lost in the heavy traffic.

5 . Why HS2 should go ahead

For the country that invented railways, Britain has shown remarkably little interest in them lately. New networks have been built around Europe in the past few decades, but the only significant stretch of ________ laid in Britain in a century is the 67-mile HS1 railway that links London to the Channel Tunnel. ________ , the country has half as much track as it had in 1963.Yet while Britain has an almost American ________ to invest in railways, its commuting(通勤) patterns are European: l0% of journeys are by rail, compared with 9% in Germany and less than 1% in America.

Britain's big ________ is that, because it has built no new high-speed lines, it runs fast intercity trains on the same track as slow commuter ones. Long ________ have to be left between slow and express trains. The need to make way for high-speed trains thus ________ the number of commuter services,and vice versa. Eight years ago,the government decided to change this by building a new 345-mile railway from London to the north of England. Though branded as High Speed 2, its principal job was to improve capacity(运输量) rather than ________ .

Rail is an increasingly significant part of the transport mix. Climate change is making carbon-efficiency even more important. At the same time, passenger numbers have gone beyond ________ . The government had expected passenger volumes to increase by 17-21% in the decade from 2011; actually, they were up by 24% within just seven years and are expected to go on ________ at a similar rate.

The benefit-to-cost ratio(效益成本比率) calculated for HS2, at around one, is hardly acknowledged. But just as the costs of big transport projects are often ________ , so are their long-term benefits. The extension to London's Jubilee tube line, ________ ,was approved with a BCR of less than one, but recent analysis suggests that it has been more like 1.75. And that includes only the profits that go directly to the railway, not the ________ consequences of the recovery of London's Docklands area, which the tube line made possible.

The main point of HS2, similarly, is its impact on the cities and towns along its ________ and beyond. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, is on a mission to promote growth in northern and western areas ________ by the country's London-centered pattern of growth. On its own HS2 won't make that happen, but doing so without a new railway would be ________ . The success of the "Northern Powerhouse" rail scheme, to link the north's big towns, depends on it.

1.

A．land

B．track

C．highway

D．water

2.

A．Besides

B．Indeed

C．Fortunately

D．Likewise

3.

A．qualification

B．eagerness

C．reluctance

D．potential

4.

A．theory

B．ambition

C．problem

D．solution

5.

A．gaps

B．lists

C．lines

D．periods

6.

A．highlights

B．increases

C．counts

D．limits

7.

A．speed

B．length

C．quantity

D．quality

8.

A．records

B．forecasts

C．averages

D．scopes

9.

A．varying

B．declining

C．growing

D．remaining

10.

A．shared

B．underestimated

C．overlooked

D．controlled

11.

A．for instance

B．as a result

C．in addition

D．out of problem

12.

A．political

B．cultural

C．economic

D．historic

13.

A．extension

B．border

C．surface

D．route

14.

A．settled down

B．put forward

C．taken over

D．left behind

15.

A．tough

B．flexible

C．innovative

D．vacant

6 . Imagine sitting inside a windowless train that's shooting through a tube at twice the speed of an airplane. Your train has no wheels, produces no _________ , makes its own electricity, and isn't affected by bad weather. This is the hyperloop, a new vision for the world's _________ , safest, and greenest form of transportation. Many have _________ this new technology, but others say the hyperloop vision is just a bunch of hot air.

Hyperloop developers plan to use the properties of magnets to float, stabilize, and drive the capsules or pods for hundreds of miles through _________ tubes. Without air or ground to slow down the vehicles, what was once a five-hour journey would become a half-hour excursion, engineers promise.

Supporters of the technology promote additional _________ of transporting passengers and cargo by hyperloop. For example, they firmly state that unlike other city-to-city transport that's _________ , such as planes or trains, hyperloop vehicles would leave as needed, like Ubers and taxis. While the _________ would hold only 28 to 50 passengers each, developers plan for them to depart stations in groups every minute or so which they say could amount to shuttling 50,000 people an hour. That's more than twice the passenger _________ of the world's fastest trains.

Developers also say that hyperloop tubes would be _________ so they wouldn't interfere with other traffic or threaten wildlife. And tubes would be covered with solar panels to power the hyperloop's systems. ____________ , advocates regard the hyperloop as the transportation choice for the future.

But not everyone is on board. Engineers have calculated that the high-speed vehicles will need to make much wider turns than currently envisioned, and otherwise they won't be ____________ for passengers. This would add several miles to the proposed tube tracks, Engineers also say planners haven't included enough time for vehicles to safely brake and take off at stations. Some engineers believe it will take much longer than claimed to pump the ____________ out of the tubes before each vehicle's departure. Critics thus say hyperloops can't go as fast or serve as many passengers per hour as advertised, making them ____________ existing high-speed transportation options.

Hyperloop companies say they're ____________ these concerns. They claim that they can safely maintain high speeds by having the vehicles bank around the turns as a plane does. And their hyperloops will rely on the split-second reaction times of a computer to ____________ vehicles quickly, frequently, and safely.

1.

A．pollution

B．sound

C．energy

D．wind

2.

A．cleanest

B．lightest

C．latest

D．fastest

3.

A．adapted

B．exploited

C．embraced

D．developed

4.

A．totally hollow

B．nearly airless

C．steadily narrow

D．highly flexible

5.

A．advantages

B．costs

C．qualities

D．situations

6.

A．in constant demands

B．on strict timetables

C．in changeable states

D．on essential services

7.

A．cabins

B．lorries

C．tubes

D．vehicles

8.

A．fare

B．capacity

C．speed

D．comfort

9.

A．underground

B．parallel

C．elevated

D．shared

10.

A．However

B．Therefore

C．Beside

D．Otherwise

11.

A．available

B．economic

C．easy

D．safe

12.

A．force

B．air

C．heat

D．water

13.

A．most popular of

B．superior to

C．no better than

D．least profitable of

14.

A．addressing

B．causing

C．voicing

D．releasing

15.

A．ride

B．pilot

C．park

D．alert

7 . “Walkability” linked to reduced hospital costs and admissions

​Neighborhoods designed to encourage people to walk to and from the shops and public transport will help reduce hospital costs and admissions linked to residents, new Canberra research shows.

The research project, from the University of Canberra’s Health Research Institute, has revealed a relationship between a suburb’s “walkability score” and a reduction in both hospital costs and admissions and added to the growing debate surrounding the role of “social determinants” in health outcomes.

Coauthors Dr. Yan Yu and Vincent Learnihan studied ACT Health data from 30,690 hospital admissions across 88 of the ACT’s suburbs, and then matched them against each suburb’s “walkability score”. That score is a measure of how easy it is to get around a particular suburb, including the number of interconnected streets, footpaths and the presence of shops, public transport stops, restaurants and services within walking distance of each other.

Dr. Yu said the study showed that those suburbs rated as “walkable”—with a walkability score of 20 units or more—were linked to a 12.1 per cent lower hospital cost for those residents and a 12.5 per cent lower rate of hospital admissions.

She said the admissions data they focused on included cancers, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases and diabetes.

But the research also showed that in Canberra, some 80 per cent of all the city’s suburbs were still “car-dependent”, which Mr. Learnihan said showed more needed to be done to help encourage Canberrans to walk, ride and use public transport.

While Mr. Learnihan commended the ACT government’s existing “active travel” programs, he said the study showed that wider and better funded initiatives to improve the “walkability” of new and existing suburbs could help save on health costs and improve Canberrans’ quality of life.

Dr. Yu said such changes could be as simple as improving footpaths and bike paths, increasing public transport access and improving local shops.

1. The suburb’s “walkability score” depends on the following factors within the walking distance of each other EXCEPT ______.

A．the presence of shops	B．the presence of taxi stands
C．the number of interconnected streets	D．the number of interconnected footpaths

2. The underlined word “commended” in Paragraph 7 probably means ______.

A．praised	B．abandoned
C．transformed	D．conducted

3. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A．the suburb with a walkability score of 12.5 units can be rated as “walkable”

B．a majority of Canberrans walk, ride and use public transport to and from work

C．admissions data researchers focused on included different kinds of disease

D．footpaths and bike paths in the suburbs of Canberra are far from satisfactory

4. What will probably happen in the future？

A．There will be fewer cars in Canberra.

B．Canberrans will have easier access to public hospitals.

C．The word “walkability” will be included in the authoritative dictionary.

D．“Walkability” of new and existing suburbs in Canberra will be improved.

8 . Is the west falling out of love with the car? For environmentalists it seems a(n) _________ dream, but it is happening. While those with young families may carry on using four wheels, a combination of our ageing societies and a new attitude among the young seems to be _________ our 20th-century car addiction. Somewhere along the road, we reached the high point of the car and are now moving down the other side.

That _________ takes several forms. Sales of new cars have almost halved in the US, down from nearly 11 million in 1985 to about 5.5 million now. We shouldn't _________ that to a great degree, though. Cars last longer these days, and sales go up and down with the economy. But we have hit peak car ownership, too. And, more to the point, peak per-capita travel (人均出行).

The phenomenon was first _________ in The Road ... Less Traveled, a 2008 report by the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, but had been going on largely unnoticed for years. Japan reached it in the 1990s. They talk there of "demotorisation". The west had its _________ point in 2004. That year the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Sweden all saw the start of a decline in the number of kilometres and average person travelled in a car that _________ today.

What could be driving us _________? Fuel costs and rising insurance premiums (保险费) may be a factor. And urban congestion, combined with an absence of parking places and congestion charging, makes an increasing number of us look on the car as a(n) _________ way to move around in cities where there are public transport alternatives.

Demographics (人口统计数据) are another possible __________. It is surely no __________ that "peak car" happened first in Japan, which has the world's oldest population. Pensioners do not drive to work, and many don't drive at all. There is also the rise of "virtual commuters" who work from home through the Internet.

Besides these new __________ pattern, leisure lifestyle are also changing. The biggest __________ in car use in the US is among people under 35. The number of American 17-year-olds with a drivers' licence has fallen from about three-quarters to about half since 1998. Twenty-somethings have recently gone from driving more than the average to driving less.

Social scientists detect a new "culture of urbanisms". The stylish way to live these days is in inner-city apartments, not the __________. Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist at the University of Toronto in Canada, points out that the young shop online, telecommute, live in walk-able city neighborhoods near public transport and rely more on social media and less on fact-to-face visiting. Given those changes, they can think of better ways to spend their money than buying a(n) __________.

1.

A．amazing

B．impossible

C．emerging

D．realistic

2.

A．admitting

B．discovering

C．causing

D．breaking

3.

A．side

B．peak

C．love

D．road

4.

A．give rise to

B．lose interest in

C．take notice of

D．keep pace with

5.

A．recognized

B．underestimated

C．neglected

D．overrated

6.

A．missed

B．common

C．tipping

D．focal

7.

A．suffers

B．occurs

C．pauses

D．continues

8.

A．into a state

B．onto the street

C．off the road

D．off the phenomenon

9.

A．dumb

B．individual

C．wise

D．efficient

10.

A．tendency

B．explanation

C．condition

D．alternative

11.

A．obstacle

B．accident

C．defense

D．evidence

12.

A．thought

B．behaviour

C．progression

D．employment

13.

A．fall

B．growth

C．difference

D．problem

14.

A．downtown

B．houses

C．suburbs

D．mansion

15.

A．car

B．computer

C．apartment

D．cellphone

9 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

More than 30,000 drivers and front seat passengers are killed or seriously     1     (injure) each year. At a speed of only 30 miles per hour it is the same     2     falling from a third floor window. According to a government information booklet,     3     (wear) a seat belt saves lives; it reduces your chance of death or serious injury by more than half.

Therefore drivers or front seat passengers over 14 in most vehicles     4     wear a seat belt. If you do not, you could be fined up to 50 pounds. It will not be up to the drivers to make sure you wear your belt.     5     it will be the driver’s responsibility to make sure that children under 14 do not ride in the front     6     they are wearing a seat belt of some kind.

However, you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are reversing your vehicle; or you are making a local delivery or collection     7     (use) a special vehicle; or if you have a valid medical certificate     8     excuses you from wearing it. Make sure these circumstances apply to you before you decide     9     (not wear) your seat belt. Remember you may be taken to court for not doing so, and may     10     (fine) if you cannot prove to the court that you have been excused from wearing it.

10 .

TRAIN TRAVEL INFORMATION We offer several distinct options for you to choose the ticket that suits you best. TICKETTYPE DISCOUNT NOTE Standard returns 20 % Return with 60 days of outward trip Same day returns 25 % Ticket cannot be altered or refunded Children 40 % Children between 4 and 11 Students 25 % Student card must be shown Senior citizens 25 % Seniors card must be shown Groups (1-25 people) 15% Discount on each　section of the trip Globe-trotter　tickets Railpass, Tourist　Card, Econopass

Only one discount may apply to each fare. CHANGES AND REFUNDS Tickets may be refunded not later 5 minutes before the departure of the train for a charge of 15% of the ticket price, or the journey may be changed to another day for a charge of 10% of the ticket price. (Not applicable to same day returns.) CHANGES FOR SAME DAY TRAVEL You may change your ticket once without charge for a journey on the same day as the original ticket. INFORMATION OF INTEREST TO TRAVELLERS When you buy your ticket, it is up to you to check that the dates and time of the journey on it are exactly as you requested.Ticket control and access to each train platform will be open until 2 minutes before departure of the train. Each traveller may take one suitcase and one item of hand luggage. You may also check in 15kgs of luggage not later than 30 minutes before departure, at no extra charge. If you would like to charter a train, or make reservations for over 25 passengers travelling together, call the Sales Department. OUR TIMETABLE IS GUARANTEED If the arrival of   your train at you destination is delayed by more than 5 minutes according to the timetable, we will refund the full price of your ticket if the delay is caused by our company.

1. How much will a passenger pay if he wants to alter his ticket to three days later?

A．25% of the original price.	B．20% of the original price.
C．15% of the original price.	D．10% of the original price.

2. The limit of luggage for a single passenger is ________.

A．one suitcase, one handbag and one 15kgs check-in luggage

B．one handbag, two pieces of 15kgs check-in luggage

C．one handbag and two pieces of 15kgs check-in luggage

D．one suitcase, one handbag and one 30kgs check-in luggage

3. What does the Train Company guarantee?

A．Students, children, senior citizens and groups can get 25% discount of the original price.

B．Passengers get the full price of the tickets back if the train is delayed over five minutes.

C．Same-day-returns can be fully refunded if they are cancelled two minutes before departure.

D．People with Globe-trotter tickets can take any kind of the discounts listed in the brochure.