1 . Imagine ordering something online. Then, imagine that item being delivered in just a few minutes by a drone. Believe it or not, this may be probable in the near future. Drones have been used by militaries since the 1970s. They refer to them as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. However, over the last two decades, drone technology has advanced rapidly and is increasingly available to the public. In fact, drones have already started doing work in many different industries. But is this going to be a good thing or a bad thing?

On the plus side, drones can do many things faster and more efficiently than people. For example, during an emergency, drones can quickly locate injured people by using special cameras. They can also distribute food, water, and medical supplies to people in hard-to-reach or dangerous places.

Drones are not just flying vehicles. Some travel on land and sea, and some even work on farms! Selfdriving tractors are being developed to help out farmers, and flying drones may soon be used to spread seeds. As for the sea, an autonomous sailboat was recently launched to collect data about the ocean and atmosphere.

Drones can truly help people in many ways. They are starting to be used in a wide variety of applications, from healthcare to mining. Even though drones can be very useful, some people believe drones also have some major problems that should be taken into consideration.

One of the biggest concerns about drones is privacy. What if a drone enters your house and takes a look around? Depending on local regulations, there may not be laws preventing drones from doing this. Drone technology is changing so quickly that it’s hard for governments to keep up!

Drones are often used to fly around and collect data. This data is then uploaded to the cloud. Unfortunately, hackers are sometimes able to steal the data when it is being uploaded. Flying drones can also pose a danger to aircraft. Many airports have reported close calls with drones.

Drones are not perfect. In the wrong hands, they can be used for criminal purposes, and even as weapons! However, most people think the positives of drone technology outweigh the negatives. Thus, it is likely that you will be seeing more and more drones in the near future. What is your opinion on drones? Do you think they are worth having around?

1. According to the passage, drones can be applied in many areas EXCEPT that______.

A．drones can quickly deliver the items you order online to your home.

B．drones, equipped with special cameras, can detect the location of the injured.

C．flying drones can be developed to help farmers spread seeds on a farm.

D．drones can unlock the keys to doors and enter the house in case of emergency.

2. Which of the following is likely to happen due to the improper use of drones?

A．They may help hackers collect confidential data and upload the information to them.

B．Airplanes on course may narrowly escaped being crashed into flying drones.

C．They may destroy the food supplies before sending them to people in inaccessible areas.

D．Drones can be granted permission from the local government to access private homes.

3. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．Drones to the rescue	B．Drones in fashion
C．Drones: the flying delivery	D．Drones on the road to ruin

2 . My past students are starting to organize a scientific conference for my 60th birthday to be held about a year from now. Their gesture reminded me of Rabbi Hanina’s words: “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues and the most from my students.”

We all started as students. Just as kids bump into things as they’re learning to _________ the world, many of us have scars from early encounters with our mentors._________ arise when those mentors attempt to establish their authority by trying to make us respect traditional thinking. Memories of these events should encourage us to do better as we_________ roles and mentor others later in life.

For example, the first advice I received from my postdoctoral mentor was to develop specialized skills and focus them on a _________ field, where I would establish myself as the world expert._________ , I decided not to follow this advice as soon as I recognized by drilling down narrowly, one often fails to make further progress. In these situations, the potential for a _________improves with a broader and more flexible perspective, which enables “out of the box” opportunities for drilling deeper around it.

Keeping this in mind, I encourage my students to think broadly and _________ about the most exciting problems in astronomy, such as: “What happened before the big bang?”; “What will happen in our distant cosmic future?”; “What is the nature of dark matter?”; or “When did life start in the universe?”

It is customary to consider a student’s raw potential as a stand-alone commodity whose value can be_________ through examinations. But my experience taught me that young scientists do not blossom into exceptional researchers _________ they are supported by encouraging words and inspiration; these ingredients are as __________ as nutrition and water are for seeds of flowers.__________ the initial belief in the potential of a student to become a successful scientist, this outcome may not come true.

As chair of the Harvard astronomy department for almost a decade, I witnessed many examples of students who were initially very slow to make progress but blossomed academically as soon as they selected a different advisor and a new topic for their Ph. D. A good mentor__________ the strengths of the mentee. As a result, a successful mentoring experience often reflects a good __________ between a fledgling(新手的) scientist and an advisor. They should both be congratulated for their shared academic DNA.

On the one hand, mentors get a kick from Oscar Wilde’s insight: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...” But on the other hand, they should allow students to break free from the __________ path with creativity. The rule of thumb is to give young scholars just enough space to explore freely and learn from their __________ without damaging the direction of their future careers. The learning curves could be steep; some of my 50 students over the past few decades started slow but eventually rose to the greatest heights. Patience is key.

1.

A．process

B．explore

C．reform

D．include

2.

A．Conflicts

B．Negotiations

C．Approvals

D．Mysteries

3.

A．play

B．deny

C．access

D．change

4.

A．commercial

B．strange

C．narrow

D．broad

5.

A．Therefore

B．Additionally

C．However

D．Consequently

6.

A．failure

B．obligation

C．ignorance

D．breakthrough

7.

A．independently

B．mutually

C．temporarily

D．undoubtedly

8.

A．embraced

B．evaluated

C．contained

D．imposed

9.

A．if

B．lest

C．while

D．unless

10.

A．crucial

B．elaborate

C．unpredictable

D．inaccessible

11.

A．Within

B．Given

C．Without

D．Due to

12.

A．spots

B．hides

C．applies

D．recalls

13.

A．argument

B．interaction

C．criticism

D．interview

14.

A．beaten

B．broken

C．chaotic

D．fresh

15.

A．mentors

B．imitations

C．fortune

D．mistakes

3 . Directions: Complete the passage with the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. There is one extra that you do not need.

A. imperfections                  B. virtual              C. admittedly        D. distortion          E. spark             F. surprisingly G. focus   H. repeat   I. increasingly                J. heightened   K. mixed

Feeling Ugly on Zoom

Jane, a 40-year-old mental health professional from Ireland, never worried too much about how she looked. However, when her job went fully     1    , she found herself desperately anxious about Microsoft Teams (video) meetings. Her face looked rounder, her nose looked bigger, and her top lip looked thinner than she had ever noticed it while looking in the mirror.

“I’ve always thought that I was attractive, and people would always compliment my looks in person,” Jane says. “But on video, nobody was saying how nice it was to see my pretty face.”

In June 2021, Jane took matters into her own hands — or rather, her lips — and got her wrinkles plumped with filler. She was so pleased with the results that she plans to     2     the process every year.

As the pandemic forced the masses into video conferences throughout 2020, researchers noticed a phenomenon they called “Zoom dysmorphia” (畸形恐惧症). After months of remote meetings and social gatherings — and seeing their own faces on screen — more and more people became focused on their physical     3    . Shadi Kourosh, a Massachusetts dermatologist (皮肤科医生), coined the term after her clinic reopened for in-person appointments in the summer of 2020, when she noticed a huge increase in consultations for cosmetic procedures. Even more     4    , with the return to face-to-face interaction, consultation requests are not slowing down. While the trend may not only be attributable to Zoom, it is clear that the age of video conferencing has opened up a Pandora’s box of physical and mental insecurities.

Psychological studies have long associated time spent in front of the mirror with one’s     5    feelings of insecurity. However, Kourosh says that looking at yourself on a screen is more like looking into a funhouse mirror than an actual one. Front-facing cameras, with their close     6    , can distort (使……失真) people’s appearance, making eyes look smaller and noses seem bigger. Plus, people are not used to watching themselves while trying to pay attention to other people.

Doctors who perform cosmetic procedures are familiar with how the phenomenon of body dysmorphia has become     7     worsened in recent years by retouched (润饰的) celebrity photos or, even more recently, by social media filters. But most people are self-aware enough to know a social media filter is not real life. Zoom dysmorphia is tricker because people simply were not aware that video calls could cause     8    . These types of insecurities also affect a much broader section of society. Not everybody has a Snapchat account, but almost anybody who worked from home during the pandemic used video conferencing. The impact can be profound and lasting.

Jane has    9     feelings. Her job will be online for the foreseeable future. Feeling less attractive on screen than in real life, she is considering a rhinoplasty (隆鼻术) to improve her confidence. “But resolving my anxiety about my physical appearance is likely to     10    its own kind of insecurity,” she says. “It feels juvenile (幼稚的) as a 40-year-old women to think about my looks like a teenager. There’re bigger problems in the world.”