1 . Recently, I accidentally found a set of Hanfu l only wore once from the bottom of the cupboard. I remember buying them simply to match the ancient-style hair accessories (配饰) a friend gave me. It occurred to me that 1 had been trapped in the “birdcage effect”.

“Birdcage effect” means that when you get an item one day, you will prepare more things to match it. Weeks ago, I was in the company of friends engaged in shopping. One said that she wanted to buy a good writing pen to match the delicate notebook that her sister gave her, so that she would fall in love with taking notes on reading, and thus love reading, not just reading. I joked that she must have fallen for the “birdcage effect”. But the friend said with a smile: “Why not use the ‘birdcage effect’ instead?”

For the first time, I heard that the “birdcage effect” can be used in reverse (逆向). However, this can’t help but remind me of middle school, and I seem to have used the “birdcage effect”. Passing by a bookstore one day, I purchased a magazine and saw the call for contributions published in the magazine, so I started writing with eager hands, and then I fell in love with writing.

After shopping with my friends that time, I began to proceed to use the “birdcage effect”. I bought a small fresh tablecloth to decorate my desk, and a beautiful notebook to record my inspiration. When everything was ready, I started writing again.

But how can we get rid of the “birdcage effect” in many things, and even use the “birdcage effect” in the opposite way? Various “birdcages” unavoidably appear in life, but we can distinguish them. If it is not in line with the actual situation, it is a “negative birdcage”, then we must learn to stop losses in time and maintain a heart of abandonment and separation. If it is a “positive birdcage” that motivates us to develop upward, we can clarify our goals, shop or decorate appropriately, and motivate ourselves to move towards our goals. At this time, you will find that the “birdcage effect” is actually not so terrible!

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The application of the “birdcage effect” in life.

B．The necessity of using the “birdcage effect” in life.

C．The turning point of the author’s idea on the “birdcage effect”.

D．The author’s conflict with her friend over the “birdcage effect”.

2. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning her middle school experience?

A．To recall her delightful days at school.

B．To explain the reason for her love with writing.

C．To confirm the positive of the “birdcage effect”.

D．To prove her knowledge of the “birdcage effect”.

3. How can we make use of the “birdcage effect” positively?

A．By realizing this effect has two sides.

B．By promoting our personal consumption.

C．By recognizing this effect is not so terrible.

D．By guiding our acts to go with reasonable goals.

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

A．Getting Rid of the Birdcage Effect Confidently

B．Motivating Ourselves to Move Towards Our Goals

C．The Birdcage Effect: Influence on Consumer Behavior

D．The Birdcage Effect: How to Use It to Your Advantage

2 . 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。

My five-year-old daughter Ruthie seemed very small standing at the base of the huge rock-climbing wall as a young employee double-checked her equipment. It was our second time at this indoor crowded climbing gym. On our first visit, Ruthie had begged my husband and me to let her try climbing the wall, but I denied her, afraid that she was undersized.

But life had dramatically changed since then. After receiving a cancer diagnosis (诊断), I felt that my life was too short to deny her a chance. I stood outside the waiting area, watching the employee attach Ruthie to a safety rope. Then he gave her a thumbs-up sign, and my daughter began climbing!

With that rope, she couldn’t possibly fall. She might slip, but she wouldn’t fall. I was surprised at how she did that so easily and joyfully. “If my cancer is the rock wall, I want to be Ruthie,” I thought.

When she touched the ground again, I leaned over the low fence and asked, “How do you do that?”

“I just trust the rope. It’s very easy,” she said with a shrug, and started on her second climbing.

Apparently, if I had known the secret, I could have climbed the wall myself. When I was sixteen, I once failed to climb a rock wall. With added weight and reduced muscle tone, I doubted if I could even do it. I didn’t see any other moms trying to climb the wall. Several months earlier, embarrassment would have stopped me from trying. But my cancer did funny things to my brain. It made me realize that I needed to be braver than I thought.

With determination, I decided to try it and the same young employee checked my safety rope and gave me the thumbs-up sign. As I began my climb, I was excited by my own bravery for trying something so new. However, only ten feet up, my fingers and toes started to tire, and there was absolutely no place to rest. My excitement began to disappear and I was afraid that I was going to slip and fall.

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。
But I knew if I wanted to make it, I had to trust the rope.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That day’s successful experience inspired me in my cancer battle.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . If someone asked whether you like the arts, you’d probably say you do—at least in theory. According to a survey, more than two-thirds of U.S. adults say the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.” However, only 30 percent attended a concert of any type in 2017; 23 percent went to an art museum. Fewer than half actively created art of any kind.

The mismatch can boil down to the fact that we are weighed down by our day-to-day responsibilities, leaving our schedule packed. Maybe you like to play a little background music while you work or do the chores, but even before the pandemic, most of us rarely, if ever, saw a live performance, let alone visited a gallery or watched a play.

Too often, we let the dull reality of life get in the way of the arts. But this is a mistake. The arts are the opposite of an escape from reality; they might just be the most realistic glimpse we ever get into the nature and meaning of life. If you make time for consuming and producing art—the same way you make time for work and exercise and family commitments—I assure you that you’ll find your life getting fuller and happier. Think of a time when you heard a piece of music and wanted to cry. Or maybe your dizziness as you emerged from a narrow side street in an unfamiliar city and found yourself in a beautiful town square as if in a fantasy. They probably stimulated a sudden awakening, much like the shock from a lungful of pure oxygen after breathing in smoggy air.

If you are among the people who feel that art is pure pleasure to experience and participate in, you might see it as a luxury item, while a preferable attitude is to treat art less like a distracting pleasure, and more like exercise or sleep, a necessity. Then draw up a schedule of your art exposure journey, and gradually weave art into your everyday life.

1. What prevents people from enjoying the arts?

A．Shortage of time.	B．Avoidance of duty.
C．Lack of interest.	D．Art space inaccessibility.

2. What can we learn about the role of art according to the passage?

A．It explores mysteries of life.	B．It sparks emotional responses.
C．It enhances physical well-being.	D．It offers a getaway from daily life.

3. What will be talked about next in the passage?

A．Ways to integrate art into routine.	B．Barriers to combine art and life.
C．Forms of distracting pleasures.	D．Benefits of engaging with art.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Art Journey: Refreshing Soul

B．Art Pursuit: Transforming Dull into Full

C．Embracing Art: From Luxury to Necessity

D．Connecting with Art: From Reality to Fantasy

4 . At the age of 12, I withdrew into my bedroom with my guitar. I had neither musical talent — many_______music lessons had proved that — nor musical training. My fingers ached as I tried to press down on the strings without making them buzz (发出嗡嗡声). _______, I worked my way through 2-, 3- and even 5-chord (和旋) songs and discovered the _______ thrills of these musical notes. No one _______ me to do this. I did this myself and of my own free will for a week, and the sense of happiness－ true happiness _______ in absorption in something － has _______ me. Fifty years later, that week’s self-directed practice became a model and _______ for almost every meaningful thing I have done since. It makes me understand the _______ between achievement and accomplishment.

The world favors achievement while _______ accomplishment. The former is the completion of the task imposed (强加) from the outside — the ________ being a path to the next task. The latter is the end point of an activity we have chosen, whose bonus is the sudden ________ of happiness.

The seeking of accomplishment always ________ people. I learned so long ago in that ________ week that simply lifting one finger from the guitar’s C chord, you should get the most moving ________ in tune. I didn’t know then it was a major 7th chord, a favorite of some masters’. I just ________ accomplishment. That’s real human “achievement”.

1.

A．added

B．tailored

C．expected

D．failed

2.

A．Besides

B．Instead

C．Therefore

D．However

3.

A．fruitless

B．matchless

C．effortless

D．senseless

4.

A．wished

B．allowed

C．required

D．invited

5.

A．masked

B．rooted

C．set

D．stuck

6.

A．waited for

B．passed by

C．departed from

D．stayed with

7.

A．exchange

B．reason

C．foundation

D．priority

8.

A．relationship

B．difference

C．balance

D．similarity

9.

A．ignoring

B．avoiding

C．assessing

D．defending

10.

A．origin

B．process

C．decision

D．reward

11.

A．lack

B．need

C．rush

D．dream

12.

A．amazes

B．concerns

C．frightens

D．discourages

13.

A．adventurous

B．dangerous

C．memorable

D．horrible

14.

A．impression

B．performance

C．scene

D．harmony

15.

A．pursued

B．accepted

C．interpreted

D．analysed

5 . Life is hard－even harder than anyone thought it would be. When you were younger, you dreamed of the world being your playground, and you were told that you could do anything and be anyone you wanted. Somehow, though, things haven’t been the smooth sailing that   you wanted them to be. The world seems to go against you, and the last thing you want to hear is “Cheer up!”

Still, there’s a couple of things you might not notice about your situation. Next time you’re down, maybe the following will provide motivation.

Firstly, not everything is bad. It’s a well-accepted fact that bad news makes for sensational (极好的) television ratings. The fact is that something negative catches a lot more attention than something positive, and that’s because it’s easy to see things in a negative light. However, that shouldn’t distract you from the bigger picture.

Resist the tunnel vision that results from constant negativity. Remember that even though there’s lots of really nasty stuff going on, you’re surrounded by some pretty awesome stuff as well.

You should also remember other people aren’t you. No one likes being compared to another person. What makes it even worse, if that’s even possible, is when you do it to yourself.

Stop comparing yourself to another person and you’ll realize that you’re much more awesome than you give yourself credit for.

Lastly, failure isn’t where the game stops. So you tried something new, but you didn’t follow through. Frustrated at yourself, you stop trying. As a result, your quality of life goes down terribly. You’ve given up on it, though, because you don’t see the point (since you failed the first time).

Now, you’re an adult. The things you are trying are much more complicated than five-year-old you. However, your behaviour shouldn’t change in the slightest－when you fail in something, that’s just more information in your data bank. You know that method doesn’t work, so try another one! And another one after that! Do this until you figure it out. Giving up is for losers, and you sure aren’t one of those.

1. The author mentioned bad news in order to show that .

A．bad news makes people see things in a negative light

B．bad news is more likely to catch people’s eyes

C．bad news attracts people to see positive things

D．bad news has a negative effect on television ratings

2. What does the underlined part “nasty stuff” in Para. 4 probably mean?

A．Unstable emotions.	B．Important events.
C．Amazing incidents .	D．Something unpleasant.

3. How should we view failure according to the passage?

A．We will change our behaviour.

B．We will keep trying the old method.

C．We should learn from failure.

D．We should think in a more complicated way.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．It inspires us to learn from negative experiences.

B．It compares negative and positive experiences.

C．It criticizes those who are affected by bad experiences.

D．It discusses how negative experiences affect others.

6 . When I first set foot in Western Australia’s Pilbara, a landscape holding 3.5-billion-year-old clues to the beginning of life, I was very disappointed. The year was 1994. I drove excitedly out of the west coast town of Port Hedland, but all I saw for the first 150 kilometers were a few dead trees and smoky dust across the burnt, flat plain. And the heat!! I’d never experienced anything this terrible before. Or breathed air so thick with biting flies.

But as we continued to head south on the highway to. Marble Bar—the hottest town in Australia—some low, broad hills started to rise from the horizon. As we continued down a dirt track into the hills, the burnt plains gave way to grass-covered hills. This grass is called spinifex, an amazing but cruel creation. It grows as bushes up to one meter in diameter (直径), with round, fine leaves with needle-sharp tips. The tips will go through just about any piece of cloth. My guide wore thick gaiters (护腿) to protect his legs. But he had failed to inform me of the risk. Without any gaiters, my skin was covered with needle tips that remained in my legs for months.

The land, ultimately, proved worth the discomfort. Here I was walking over some of Earth’s oldest, best-preserved rocks that contain evidence of life from almost the very beginnings of time on our planet.

This area had changed much from when it was first formed 3.5 billion years ago. Back then it would have been a black volcanic land, with no color from vegetation. Over the hills I might have seen a green, iron-rich sea under an orange sky heavy with carbon dioxide and without oxygen. Several billion years after that, the world would turn cold and become covered in a global ice sheet, destroying almost every living thing. When it melted away, oxygen levels rose again. Life really got going. Animals slowly occupied the land, so did new types of plants. The greening of our planet began, and a wide variety of organisms (有机体) appeared including. unfortunately for me, spinifex.

1. What was the author’s first reaction to the Pilbara landscape?

A．Dissatisfaction.

B．Excitement.

C．Amusement.

D．Confusion.

2. What does the writer mean by “The land, ultimately, proved worth the discomfort”?

A．It was no easy task to set foot on the land.

B．He had never seen spinifex on any other land.

C．The trip was valuable despite all the suffering.

D．The tips remaining in his flesh were not that uncomfortable.

3. What is the significance of the Pilbara landscape?

A．It is where life began.	B．It is still a black volcanic land.
C．It is home to many unique plants.	D．It contains almost no living things.

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

A．How Life Started on Earth	B．Pilbara: Rich in Organisms
C．An Abandoned but Lively Land	D．Journey to a Land across Time

7 . 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。

It was a summer afternoon a long time ago. I was a little boy watching my favourite rerun(重播) on our tiny little television set. All that was about to change, however. CRACK! BOOM! The lightening and thunder sounded. I was so frightened that I sat up on the sofa immediately. There was a line of snow flashing across the TV screen.

Suddenly my mum ran into the living room, unhooked the antenna(天线) wire and dropped the metal claws(钳子) into a glass jar by the TV. Seeing this, I started to complain but knew that Mum wasn’t going to risk lightening hitting our antenna, running through the wire, and blowing up our only TV set. Since there was no way she was going to let me go outside and play either, I settled into my chair and reread a book for the tenth time while she placed empty coffee cans under the leaks in the roof which my dad hadn’t had a chance to fix yet.

After a while, my mum walked to me and asked me if I could play cards with her. As I had no natural interest in the game of bridge, I refused her without hesitation. She looked at me with her imploring(恳求的) eyes. But I said nothing and buried my head in the book again even though there was no other attractions to me in it. She walked away quietly with a sigh(叹息).

Later after the lightening and thunder had passed and only a gently falling rain remained, I saw my mum walk out onto our back porch(门廊), sit down on our old porch swing and watch the rain. She loved watching it water the flowers, forests and gardens. She enjoyed seeing it swell(使膨胀) the river down the hill from our house. She knew it would be providing water to drink and wash and clean and live. She had told me all this many times too, but my young mind was too selfish then to take all in. All I knew was that rainstorms meant no TV and no playing outside.

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

This time, though, I took the time to watch it fall.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next time it rains, I’ll turn off my TV, computer, and phone.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . My grandchild, Harold, was celebrating his 7th birthday. Asked what _________ he wanted, he said he wanted me to make fudge (乳脂软糖). I _________ it perhaps 20 years earlier with little success. What I once made was either fudge _________ or a hard and burnt rock.

Harold remembered me telling of these _________, but he held the _________ that I could successfully make fudge for him. Since he eagerly wanted it, I _________ and I tried my best to make it.

I followed the _________ step by step, which told me to “continue stirring the cooked mixture until it turns white and shiny”. I _________ stirring it. And then something _________ happened. I felt the fudge start to harden. “This is just the ____________ moment,” I thought. I stopped stirring immediately and poured it into a big plate. How happy! The fudge came out ____________ for the first time!

As I presented the perfectly crafted fudge to Harold, his eyes sparkled with ____________ and a wave of pride ____________ me. It dawned on me that life is about a series of challenges and, more importantly, opportunities for ____________. It’s about embracing the unknown and believing in oneself even when past experiences may suggest otherwise. Harold’s simple ____________ had become a catalyst (催化剂) for personal growth and overcoming my own limitations.

1.

A．colour

B．gift

C．plan

D．game

2.

A．did

B．witnessed

C．bought

D．considered

3.

A．stick

B．pie

C．candy

D．soup

4.

A．changes

B．failures

C．thrills

D．hardships

5.

A．fact

B．reason

C．belief

D．theory

6.

A．complained

B．resisted

C．persisted

D．agreed

7.

A．story

B．recipe

C．grandson

D．thought

8.

A．avoided

B．regretted

C．enjoyed

D．kept

9.

A．scary

B．interesting

C．amazing

D．awkward

10.

A．quiet

B．proper

C．regular

D．difficult

11.

A．ahead

B．late

C．fine

D．wrong

12.

A．joy

B．intelligence

C．humor

D．inspiration

13.

A．stood for

B．weighed on

C．struck at

D．washed over

14.

A．education

B．involvement

C．growth

D．fun

15.

A．interruption

B．request

C．answer

D．pleasure

9 . 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。

The year 2013 marked a turning point in my life. In June, my husband was offered a new Job in Ghana. Feeling that I had hit a career bottleneck as a photographer and copywriter (广告文字撰写人), I, without any hesitation, made the decision to relocate with him.

While my husband engaged in work, my visa didn’t grant me the same privilege. But that’s okay. I didn’t know what to do anyway. I was left isolated, homesick and lacking purpose. Our new home was a bungalow near a river that cut across expansive grasslands. With few people around our home, I turned to nature, which had been a fondness of mine since childhood. Every day, I would take my camera and wander around, photographing aimlessly.

It wasn’t long before September arrived, bringing the full flow of the rainy season. After one particularly bad thunderstorm, I found a finch (雀) — a poor little thing barely a month old with one wing broken — on the ground. Evidently, he had been abandoned by his flock, his nest blown from a tree. The sight was heartbreaking. He was the size of my lite finger. His eyes were tightly shut and he was shuddering, too young to survive alone. I somehow felt a connection with it. Immediately I scooped him up and cautiously placed him in a cardboard box with towels, mimicking a nest, and stayed up all night researching how to care for him.

The next day, he seemed to regain some energy. He woke with his mouth open, though still too weak to let out a call. I fed him some food and chirped (叽喳) at him. To my amusement, he chirped back and even climbed into my hand. I affectionately gazed at this adorable creature, who was now boldly pecking (啄) my fingers now and then. A surge of warmth ran through me. Tenderly stroking his feathers, I chirped a lullaby, singing him to sleep. Gradually, his eyes drooped and he drifted off. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene — as far as he was concerned, I was his mother.

Para 1. “I will take care of you.” I murmured, making my promise to him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Para 2. At that moment I realized that as I dedicated myself to the finch’s care, something within me changed.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . In some ways, the kitchen is the heart of the home. It is where we ______ our day with a cup of coffee or tea. The kitchen is where we ______ ourselves, body and soul.

Sometimes you need order in the kitchen for things to run ______. Sometimes you need one person to be ______ charge. Imagine you are cooking dinner for your friends. As you are making the soup, your friend Sara ______ it and says, “This needs more salt.” So, she adds more salt.

Then Harlan comes in. He tastes your ______ and says, “You didn’t put enough pepper.” So he grinds (磨碎) some fresh black pepper into the pot.

Cecilia sees him. She tastes the soup and says, “You forgot vinegar. It’s my ______ ingredient.” Then she ______ in some vinegar.

You are happy to spend time with your friends. But, quite ______, all their opinions about your soup are becoming ______. Worst of all, you taste the soup and it’s ______!

And that is where we get the expression “too many cooks ______ the soup.”

This expression describes an age-old ______: If too many people help to complete a task, it may not go very well.

So there should be a cook in the kitchen. He is the ______. Other people can be assistants helping him. And the cook has the final ______.

1.

A．enjoy

B．finish

C．start

D．spend

2.

A．prepare

B．eat

C．cook

D．feed

3.

A．frequently

B．actively

C．smoothly

D．quickly

4.

A．from

B．for

C．with

D．in

5.

A．tastes

B．heats

C．mixes

D．drinks

6.

A．meat

B．soup

C．vegetable

D．food

7.

A．wonderful

B．famous

C．secret

D．delicious

8.

A．pours

B．fills

C．puts

D．blows

9.

A．importantly

B．strangely

C．interestingly

D．frankly

10.

A．charming

B．inviting

C．annoying

D．embarrassing

11.

A．salty

B．awful

C．sour

D．hot

12.

A．spoil

B．share

C．make

D．polish

13.

A．mystery

B．discovery

C．tradition

D．problem

14.

A．leader

B．host

C．assistant

D．manager

15.

A．method

B．direction

C．advice

D．say