1 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容或括号内所给词的恰当形式填空。

In America,     1     (help) students develop social skills, school offers a large number of after-school activities. When deciding which student to accept, employers and colleges look for students     2     have skills in several areas. Exam grades are very important, but so are the after-school activities. By taking part in these activities, students show their special talents and their     3     (able) to get on with others.

2 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Humankind’s growing need for food is running up against thousands of other species’ need for space. By 2050, humans may need to clear an additional 3.35 million square     1     (kilometer) of land for agriculture.     2     (transform) these largely natural habitats would squeeze more than 17,000 vertebrate species from some of their lands. But changing how and where food     3     (grow) can minimize the impacts. “We can feed the planet without messing it up too badly,” says conservation scientist David Williams.

3 . On Feb. 21, four students were standing on the side of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu when a driver going 110 miles per hour lost control of his car and it crashed into the parked vehicles.12 people were killed at the scene, including 2 drivers.

This kind of traffic death shouldn’t be called an accident. In Los Angeles, we seem to have accepted constant carnage (屠杀) in our streets in exchange for maximizing driver speed and convenience. The official responses to proven traffic dangers are mere gestures, if even that.

Los Angeles is a uniquely deadly city with a death rate that is four times the national average. Unsurprisingly, it’s also a city that has been designed with one thing in mind: a concept called level of service, which grades streets on how well they serve those in automobiles. To many Angelenos, that makes sense — to design our streets for car traffic, which is the way many get around the city. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize that there’s a trade-off. We can either have streets bettered for free-flowing traffic, or we can design streets for people to move around safely outside of cars.

City leaders consistently choose for the easy but deadly option. In one recent example, a resident asked the city’s Department of Transportation to block drivers from using Cochran Avenue at Venice Boulevard as a cut-through street, as they were speeding through a quiet residential neighbourhood. The department responded by suggesting a “speed awareness campaign” in which neighbours put up yard signs urging drivers to slow down.

People don’t drive based on signage, but they drive on the design of the street. The trunk roads of Los Angeles such as Venice Boulevard all need to be revised so that people are prioritized over cars. This would include narrowing travel lanes (道), building bike lanes, and banning right turns at red lights. These measures would make drivers feel like they’re in a city and not on a highway. A recent John Hopkins study says this would have substantial safety benefits.

With more than 7,500 miles of streets in the city of Los Angeles, they won’t all be rebuilt anytime soon. But with each road construction project, or each crash, we should be revising streets to make them safer for all road users.

The solution to traffic jam isn’t to make more space for cars. It’s to design the streets to be safe enough for alternatives such as biking, walking and mass transit, especially for the 50% of trips daily in Los Angeles that are less than three miles. The solution to protecting people dining outdoors isn’t crash barriers. It’s a street design that forces drivers to go slowly. The problem is carnage in the streets, and we know the solutions.

1. Why should the traffic death in Los Angeles be called “constant carnage”?

A．The traffic accidents happen quite often.

B．Too many people are killed in the traffic accidents.

C．The drivers’ speeding is to blame for the traffic death.

D．City leaders’ consistent choice contributes to the traffic death.

2. What does the word “trade-off” underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．Balance.

B．Guideline.

C．Conflict.

D．Resolution.

3. According to the passage, which is a likely solution to the traffic problem?

A．To widen travel lanes.	B．To add more crosswalks.
C．To arrange more traffic police.	D．To punish speeding drivers.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Drivers first or walkers first?	B．Traffic death or constant carnage?
C．More warning signs or safer designs?	D．More narrow lanes or speedy highways?

4 . 阅读短文，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

The dinner party is     1     threat, announced a recent lifestyle column in The Times. You might wonder, “How can this be? Don’t we throw parties for friends on special occasions?” But     2     The Times worries about is another kind of disappearing. It is usually hosted in one’s home. Invitations     3     (send) out weeks in advance and the hosts prepare food     4     (careful). Yet nowadays, people prefer to eat takeout food on their sofa while juggling a mobile phone and a remote control.

5 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

The term “multitasking” originally     1    (refer) to a computer’s ability to carry out several tasks at one time. So far, multitasking     2    (become) a way of life and even a key to success for many people. In fact, some excellent mental exercises involve engaging the brain in two or more challenging activities at a time.     3    checking e-mail while talking on a phone and reading the newspaper may be second nature for some people, many times multitasking can make us less productive. And studies show that too much multitasking can lead to increased stress, anxiety and memory loss.

6 . In the modern age, social media platforms have emerged as powerful tools for communication, networking, and self-expression. With billions of active users worldwide, these platforms have profoundly influenced the human interaction. Recent psychological studies have delved into understanding the influence of prolonged (长期的) social media usage on individual self-esteem (自尊) and identity formation.

Context and Prevalence (流行)

Social media platforms, including Weibo, WeChat Moments, Douyin, and Little Red Book, offer ways for individuals to project curated versions of their lives. While this can serve as a medium of affirmation, it also compares one’s daily life against the specially edited highlights of others, which could potentially lead to feelings of failure and unsatisfactory.

Research Findings on Self-Esteem

A study conducted among adolescents aged 13-19 showed that extreme social media use correlates with lower self-esteem scores. Participants who spent over five hours daily on these platforms demonstrated significant tendencies towards self-devaluation (自我贬低) and negative self-perception (自体感受). The study believed that the constant exposure of idealized images and lives leads to an involuntary (不自主的) comparison, often placing the individual on the lesser end of the spectrum.

Implications for Identity Formation

For adolescents, a critical time of identity formation happens during the teenage years. Social media can often blur the lines (模糊界限) between personal identity and digital persona (面貌，形象). A study tracked teenagers for five years and found that heavy social media users often experienced identity confusion. Their digital avatars, formed under societal pressures, sometimes overshadowed their real personalities, leading to internal conflicts and a confusion to real selfhood.

Possible Solutions and Future Research

While the negative influence of social media on mental well-being are evident, it’s also essential to highlight its potential benefits. Platforms can help to add a sense of belonging, provide informational support, and serve as outlets for creative expression. Future research could explore potential interventions (介入，干涉) to reduce the negative effects.

In conclusion, while social media offers a huge number of opportunities and ways for expression, it’s important that teenagers approach it with awareness. The psychological landscape it shapes is hard to understand, and understanding its depths requires continued research, empathy (共鸣), and active measures.

1. What do we know about the study involving adolescents aged 13-19?

A．It took five hours for participants to take part in the study

B．It suggested that we should not compare our lives with others

C．It caused self-devaluation and negative self-perception to participants.

D．It showed that too much social media use resulted in low self-esteem.

2. What does the term “digital avatars” refer to in paragraph 4?

A．Social media algorithms (算法).	B．Digital marketing tools.
C．Online versions of individuals.	D．Digital assistants.

3. Why social media are especially bad for adolescents?

A．They cause identity crises (危机) to them.	B．They lead to feelings of unsatisfactory.
C．They project version of their lives.	D．They overshadow their personalities.

4. How does the author feel about the effect of social media on users?

A．Entirely negative.

B．Quite positive.

C．Mixed with caution.

D．Indifferent and neutral.

7 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

More than 3. 5 billion people worldwide spend an average of three hours a day glued to their smartphones. Researchers found that people who lowered their usage by one hour every day were     1    (happy) and reduced anxiety symptoms by more than 30%. Cutting back was more effective than total digital detox (戒瘾): People who had spent one hour less per day     2     smartphones during the one-week intervention were more likely to successfully change their habits over the long term than those     3     had put their smartphones away     4     (entire) for a week.

8 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

We are writing     1     (call) on everyone to take part in the Clear Your Plate campaign. It urges people to save food by not wasting anything on the dining table. You may not know over 30% of the world’s food     2     (waste) every year, while many people in poor areas do not have enough to eat. Reducing daily food waste by just 5% could save millions of people from starvation. Let’s start doing     3     we can to make the world a better place.

9 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号所给词的正确形式填空。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

City walk, a unique way to experience urban culture and lifestyle, is     1     many youngsters in China enjoy doing when they visit a new city. Traditionally, city walks were led by professional guides, following planned routes through city neighborhoods     2     (gain) insights into local history, culture, and architecture. However, recent versions of city walks in China have taken on a more casual approach. They involve wandering     3     (aimless) around the city, visiting scenic spots, and capturing (捕捉) moments. In fact, it’s simply “walking in the city.”

10 . These days many people choose to live or work in other countries, which has been made possible because of the convenience of air travel and modern communications. I believe that this has more benefits than drawbacks.

    1    If a person moves away, it is true that air travel and devices such as Skype mean that communication and contact can be maintained. However, it is likely that a person will only be able to return one or two times a year during holidays, and speaking on skype or via email is not the same as face-to-face contact.

Despite this, there are significant advantages it can bring to people’s lives. Firstly, it means that people have the opportunity to see other parts of the world and the way people live. For example, people from the West often go to work in Asia or the Middle East and visa-versa.     2    

In addition to this, on a wider level it may also benefit other countries.     3    To illustrate, nurses and doctors often move to work in hospitals in other countries when there is a shortage, so this is very valuable to the place they move to.

I would therefore argue that although there are disadvantages of the current trend to live and work abroad, they are outweighed by the advantages. It can enrich people’s lives and lives of the people in the countries that they move to.

A．If someone moves abroad for work, it is usually because their skill is required there.

B．The disadvantage of this development is the distance that is put between family members.

C．This enriches people’s lives as they get to learn about things different from their own country.

D．This helps people get to live the same life in the country they work.