1 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

Gestures refer to the communication where visible bodily actions are used to communicate important messages. They include movement of hands, face, or other parts of the body. Gestures benefit our lives a lot. Take language learning.

In some languages, certain syllables (音节) within words are pronounced with markedly more weight than others, called lexical stress. Languages such as English commonly feature lexical stress. For example, the word “accent” involves more emphasis on the first syllable, “ac”, than the second, “cent”. Native speakers of Chinese, however, don’t use lexical stress and therefore find it difficult to learn languages that feature it.

Making any hand gesture could help learners recognize lexical stress, which has been proved by Xing Tian’s team. They selected 124 native Chinese speakers, who watched videos of people performing hand movements that were synced(同步的) to recordings of the same English words. In addition, they also found when more pronounced gestures matched the stressed syllable, the participants were particularly good at identifying it.

The research involved several experiments, which makes it difficult to combine the results. Nevertheless, Tian estimates that the use of gestures helped identify lexical stress between 10 and 15 percent more accurately compared with no gestures at all, and how much help depends on the nature of gestures.

A follow-up study conducted by another team exposed the same Chinese speakers to Russian words and got similar results. “Our findings highlight the functional role of gestures in enhancing speech learning, suggesting practical strategies for language teaching and learning,” the researchers write in their paper.

The benefits of gestures extend far beyond teaching and learning. Since gestures are deeply integrated into our daily lives, they deserve more of our attention.

1. What do gestures mean?
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2. What did Xing Tian’s team find in their study?
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3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Gestures help learn lexical stress, but the degree to which they help depends on the complexity of the lexical stress.
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4. Besides what is mentioned in the passage, how do gestures benefit you in your life? (In about 40words)
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2 . 根据课文内容填空。

Some of the first poems a young child learns in English are    1       rhymes. They are usually the traditional poems or     2       songs. The language of these rhymes, like Poem A, is to the point but has a storyline. Many children enjoy nursery rhymes because they rhyme, have a strong rhythm, and often repeat the same words. The poems may not make sense and even seem     3    , but they are easy to learn and     4    .

3 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What are the two speakers mainly talking about?

A．How to improve English.

B．How to meet foreigners.

C．How to speak English well.

2. How does the man feel about speaking English?

A．Confident.

B．Excited.

C．Shy.

3. What does the woman suggest the man do at last?

A．Read English papers.

B．Talk to his English teacher.

C．Invite some foreigners for dinner.

4 . When I first moved to China in 1998, I thought I would impress my class by using some Chinese in my speech about American weddings (婚礼). I told them everyone brings a gift to the wedding for the couple. As soon as I said this, all of the students looked surprised. I knew I had said something wrong. I realized that instead of telling them that everybody brings gifts to the hun li for the couple, I had said people bring gifts for them at the li hun!

I get laughs from some of my students because I often make mistakes and my Chinese sounds strange at times. But I tell them that sometimes their English is really strange too.

One asks, “What are you like to do in your free time?” And the other answers, “I very like basketball.” I find that even good English speakers make such mistakes. The second is by far the most common mistake I have heard among Chinese English speakers. It is a result of first thinking in Chinese and then translating each word in the sentence into English. This, of course, makes some Chinese people’s English sound strange.

“We should get off the car here,” a student told me. My school had asked two students to show me around the city by taxi. In English countries, we “get off” a bike, bus, or train. However, when we leave a car, we say “get out of the car”. Perhaps the student had learned “get off” means xia in Chinese and he thought the phrase (短语) could be followed by any means of transportation. To avoid such mistakes, you should take collocations (搭配) seriously. Only learning vocabulary and grammar is not enough.

Some of my students sound more like a book or machine than a human. Perhaps they have gotten used to depending on books. You can also read English books out loud or use a CD, but you need the real thing. If you have a chance to hear a native speaker from an English­speaking country, practice repeating what you hear. They can teach you how to have a conversation.

1. Why did the students feel surprised?

A．American weddings are difficult to organize.

B．The author’s Chinese was as fluent as Chinese.

C．The author used a completely wrong Chinese word.

D．Everyone must bring a gift to an American wedding.

2. What can cause strange English in China according to the author?

A．Spelling mistakes.	B．Direct translation.
C．Cultural difference.	D．Wrong pronunciations.

3. What can we infer about the student who said “We should...here”?

A．He might be poor at vocabulary.

B．He might mistake “car” for “taxi”．

C．He might know very little about the city.

D．He might pay little attention to collocations.

4. What does the author want to share in the last paragraph?

A．Common mistakes made by Chinese English learners.

B．Differences between Chinese and American culture.

C．Suggestions on improving conversational skills.

D．His experience of learning English.

5 . In the past, you may have had to carry a phrasebook with you when traveling to other countries. Nowadays, more and more people are using simple, free tools, not only to decode (译解 ) text but also to speak. Google Translate may be the best-known name in machine translation, but it often makes a blunder. However, DeepL Translate does better, offering various options, most of them along the correct lines.

Travel has long been a motivator for study-unless people start to feel AI tools offer a good-enough service. As AI translation becomes an even more popular labor-saving tool, people can be divided into two groups.There will be those who want to stretch their minds and immerse (使沉浸于) themselves in other cultures. This lot will still take on language study,often aided by technology. Others will look at learning a new language with a mix of admiration and puzzlement, and eventually give up trying to learn it.

As for the use of AI tools, some are concerned that apps are turning language learning into a downward trend. Douglas Hofstadter, a writer, has argued that something profound will disappear when people talk through machines. He describes giving a difficult speech in Mandarin, which requires a lot of work but offers a sense of accomplishment in the end. Who will take pride in taking a helicopter to the top of Mount Everest?

Others are less worried. Most people do not move abroad or have to be exposed to a foreign culture that requires them to put in the work to become fluent. Nor do most people learn languages for the purpose of humanising themselves or training their brains.

But a focus on the learner alone misses the basic social nature of language. When you try to ask directions in broken German, you are making direct contact with someone. When you speak a language well enough to tell a story with perfect timing, that connection is more profound.The best relationships do not require an intermediary (中间人).

1. What does the underlined word "blunder" in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Mistake.

B．Choice.

C．Adjustment.

D．Decision.

2. What does paragraph 2 tell us about AI tools?

A．They may not offer accurate translations.

B．They may make language learning less popular.

C．They may weaken people's interest in other cultures.

D．They may provide a limited service for language learning.

3. What does Douglas Hofstadter think of the use of AI tools?

A．It provides people with new experience.

B．It can replace traditional language study methods.

C．It represents a new tendency to language learning.

D．It lessens the sense of achievement in language study.

4. What is the significance of language learning according to the last paragraph?

A．It enables cultural exchanges.	B．It improves communication skills.
C．It strengthens connections with others.	D．It adds fun to the storytelling experience.

6 . 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。

In the heart of Silicon Valley, Ethan and Olivia, two high-school teens, found themselves part of a big change: using AI in their studies. They were at a famous school where they were constantly under pressure to be excellent, but for both of them, English, especially the writing section, was a constant headache.

Ethan was great with analyzing but struggled when it came to creative writing. He found it hard to put his thoughts into words and his essays didn’t have the emotional depth that touched readers. Olivia, however, was a natural storyteller who could spin exciting tales that kept her friends on the edge of their seats, but she wasn’t so good with grammar and sentence structure.

One day, their teacher showed them an AI helper called “WordsAI”. In the beginning, they doubted how a machine could possibly understand the slight differences of human emotion and thoughts. But as they tried it out, they were surprised by how well it understood what they needed. WordsAI not only provided real-time grammar and spelling checks but also offered practical suggestions to improve their writing. It even helped them develop their own unique writing styles, and looked as if it could read their thoughts! With WordsAI’s help, Ethan could express himself clearly and emotionally, while Olivia improved her writing without losing her creativity.

However, their journey with WordsAI was not smooth all the way. With time going on, Ethan found Olivia started depending too much on the AI’s advice, even using it to come up with story ideas, which made her lose her unique perspective (观点) over time. Ethan was concerned that she was copying others’ work, so he suggested she should not rely on WordsAI too often. This caused a disagreement between them. Ethan questioned if Olivia was too dependent on AI, while Olivia argued that he was too stubborn to embrace technology that could assist them.

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。

After a big talk, they realized they weren’t using WordsAI in the proper way.

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Over time, they figured out how to mix technology with their own creativity in a harmonious way.

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7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Who is the man probably?

A．A foreign student.

B．Kate’s boyfriend.

C．The woman’s friend.

2. What is Kate doing now?

A．Watching a film.

B．Reading a book.

C．Making a phone call.

3. Why is the man asking so many questions tonight?

A．To know more about the family.

B．To improve his spoken English.

C．To get close to Kate.

8 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where does the speaker come from?

A．Canada.

B．England.

C．Thailand.

2. How does the speaker view the English lessons here in schools?

A．They are not special.

B．They are not enough.

C．They are not interesting.

3. In what way are the speaker’s English programs different?

A．They are designed in various styles.

B．They are broadcast live every day.

C．They are based on the computer.

4. What does the speaker expect people to do?

A．Attend their English classes.

B．Practice their English every day.

C．Watch English movies and TV shows.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is Tina’s weakest part of learning English?

A．Speaking.

B．Writing.

C．Reading.

2. What matters most in learning a language according to Colin?

A．Being patient.

B．Making friends with foreigners.

C．Living in an English-speaking country.

3. What does Colin suggest Tina do?

A．Get up earlier to learn.

B．Read newspapers every day.

C．Practice English every morning.

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the speaker talking about?

A．Four aspects in learning English.

B．Ways to improve English.

C．Practical purposes of learning English.

2. Which is the best for students?

A．Books.

B．Newspapers.

C．The radio.

3. What does the speaker think of watching news?

A．Boring.

B．Difficult.

C．Interesting.

4. How many activities does the speaker talk about?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.