1 . Rescuers in Jersey said Sunday after an all-night search that there was no hope of survivors from an explosion that flattened a three-story apartment block. At least three people were confirmed killed in the accident early Saturday in the Channel island’s port capital St Helier, following a suspected gas leak. “We have three confirmed deaths and it’s fair to say we expect to find more,” police chief Robin Smith told a news conference, saying that around 12 residents remained unaccounted for. “It is with sadness that I am confirming that the search-and-rescue operation has been moved to a recovery operation,” he said.

The phase involved a “painstaking search of the debris” which could take weeks, Smith said, adding that a gas leak was the ‘likely” cause. Aided by sniffer dogs and experts from southern England, Jersey emergency workers had searched the rubble (瓦砾)overnight.

Fire chief Paul Brown confirmed that firefighters were called out to investigate the smell of gas on Friday evening, more than seven hours before the explosion. But in vain. He admitted that something had gone “horribly wrong”, considering the subsequent disaster, but insisted that Jersey islanders could still have confidence in his service. Jersey’s gas supplier, Island Energy, said it was working with the fire service to understand what happened.

Like many others in St Helier, Jersey’s Chief Minister Kristina Moore said she was awoken by the explosion. “Across the island you could hear this extraordinary sound,” she told the BBC. “It’s unthinkable news, so we’re all absolutely shocked and really worried about the people who are involved and about those whose lives have been lost.”

The incident caps a tragic week for Jersey, a British Crown dependency not part of the United Kingdom, whose economy relies on banking, tourism and fishing. “We must call on the collective strength of the island community,” Moore said.

1. What’s the possible cause of the accident?

A．The gas leak.	B．The gas supplier.
C．The recovery operation.	D．The unexpected explosion.

2. What was the main task of the recovery operation?

A．Rescuing the dead.	B．Searching the rubble.
C．Searching for the debris.	D．Working with fire service.

3. What may Paul Brown’s words imply?

A．He had predicted the explosion hours before it.

B．The fire service was investigating the explosion.

C．People lost confidence in the island’s fire service.

D．The fire service was partly responsible for the accident.

4. How did Moore feel after the accident?

A．Panicked and frightened.	B．Relieved and hopeful.
C．Astonished and concerned.	D．Fearful and sorrowful.

2 . In the fall of 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance (耐力号) sank off the coast of Antarctica. While all of the expedition’s 28 crew eventually were rescued, the ship’s final resting place has remained a much-discussed maritime mystery. That is, until today. A team of researchers has announced they’ve located the wreck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, almost the northernmost part of Antarctica.

Endurance was backed by the British government and private donors and supported by Winston Churchill to deliver a group of explorers to the coast of Antarctica and then travel overland across the continent via the South Pole.

It set out from South Georgia on December 5, 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. But the enemy that Shackleton and his men faced was of a different sort. The Weddell Sea, covering an area of more than a million square miles, is one of the most remote and unforgiving environments in the world, littered with icebergs and roiled by strong surface winds. Shackleton called it “the worst sea in the world.”

The expedition made good progress at first, but as the Antarctic winter of 1915 closed in, the men found themselves trapped in the sea ice on Tuesday, October 26. The next day, the men removed tools, instruments, and provisions and set up camp on the ice floe. Endurance finally sank on November 27. Shackleton famously said, “What the ice gets, the ice keeps.” . But Endurance’s story did not end with the ship’s sinking.

In 2019, the Falklands Heritage Maritime Trust began its first expedition to find the ship but had been unable to locate the wreck. This winter, they tried again, organizing and funding Endurance22.

One of the toughest problems, besides the sea ice, was establishing the ship’s location. After Endurance was initially trapped in the ice, it continued to drift as the floes moved with the current. Due to poor visibility on the day the men abandoned the ship, however, the captain had been unable to take proper measurements that would help calculate the direction and speed of the floes.

1. Which can show the positions of Weddell Sea and Antarctica?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Endurance hasn’t been found since the fall of 1915.

B．Endurance was only supported by Winston Churchill.

C．Ernest Shackleton died and sank off the coast of Antarctica in the fall of 1915.

D．Ernest Shackleton’s goal was to travel across the Antarctica via the South Pole.

3. What is the fundamental cause of the disaster according to the passage?

A．The sea ice.

B．The Antarctic winter.

C．The things they carried.

D．The captain’s unreasonable command.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The way how to establish the ship’s location.

B．The reason why locating the ship is difficult.

C．The measurements that the captain took to locate the ship.

D．The time when Endurance22 was organized and funded.

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一个完整的短文。续写词数应为150左右。

Want to know how to survive a plane crash? What about a terrorist attack? To put your mind at ease in any situation, you can almost guarantee your survival if you never leave the house without 3 necessary items, i.e.a lighter (打火机), a lifestraw(生命吸管) and a raincoat.

Your first instinct (本能) might be to search for help the minute you realize you’re in trouble. But survival experts insist you should stay where you are until help finds you. Doing so will make it easier for the search and rescue teams to locate your location.

What should you do until then, you ask? Prepare to hunker down (蹲下) for the long run. That’s where your three pieces of survival necessities come into play, Stewart says.

For one, you should have something to start a fire on you at all times. Fire-starting tools are inexpensive to purchase, and you can easily carry them around in a backpack or pants pocket. But even without a fancy item, all you really need is something to light the first fire.

“You can use cotton balls covered in petroleum jelly (凡士林) as a fire starter,” Stewart told USA TODAY. “They are water-resistant and will start a fire with just a spark.”

Second, you’ll need something to make your drinking water fit to drink, such as a canteen (水壶) that can boil water. Stewart recommends buying a $20 lifestraw, which can be inserted into the muddiest pool of water you can find and you suck the water out. Any doubt? It could still save your life, Stewart says.

Paragraph 1:

“I always say that your life depends on your water source,” he says.

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Paragraph 2:

You can keep all three items with you when you are away from your home.

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4 . 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 August. We were on vacation, just my six-year-old son Kevin and I, for my husband was always busy. Having driven from our home in the city to a remote and peaceful place, we wouldn’t see friends or family—it would be a nice, safe, socially distanced week away. We had hiked about half mile to an attractive spot called Diana’s Baths, which afforded visitors an expanse of transparent water. The water flows and then falls off a series of big flat stones, making itself a small waterfall, about 7 inches high.

Several couples and their kids in swimsuits were playing to their heart’s content in the water. We joined them. I watched as some younger parents nervously drove their babies away from the stones edges. Fast-moving water made standing there quite dangerous, for I saw a certain kid with curly hair missed a step and almost fell down. The air was full of shouts and laughter. I felt so lucky that I didn’t always need to fix my eyes on my son. Kevin could navigate his physical space with more confidence and care. But I was still terrified when I saw Kevin jump between the slippery rocks.

But with the passing of time, I soon relaxed, and we were both having fun, my kid splashing and kicking in the cool water, laughing heartily as I put my head under the cold running water.

Then seconds later, every fear I’d ever had rose to the surface. I lifted my head, turned and saw Kevin sitting between two stones, with the rushing water flowing around him. I could see he was shaking sometimes because of the water rapids. I yelled at him to get out. He yelled back something that I couldn’t hear.

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。

Suddenly he disappeared in front of my eyes.

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When Kevin returned to normal. I learned the woman was a nurse.

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5 . Schools across the US East Coast canceled outdoor activities, commercial airline traffic was slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in thick and yellow smoke.

“It’s critical that Americans experiencing dangerous air pollution, especially those with health conditions, listen to local authorities to protect themselves and their families,” US President Joe Biden said.

New York’s world-famous skyline, usually visible for miles, disappeared because of the smoke, which some residents said made them feel unwell.

“It makes breathing difficult,” Mohammed Abass said as he walked down Broadway in Manhattan. “I’ve been scheduled for a road test for driving, for my driving license today, and it was canceled.”

“It looks like Mars out there,” said Fox Forecast Center meteorologist Brian Mastro just before 2 p.m.

New York Goveror Kathy Hochul called the situation an “emergency crisis,” noting that the air pollution index for parts of her state were eight times above normal.

In Bethesda, Maryland, a high school moved its graduation ceremony indoors, while a Brooklyn, New York, elementary school deferred its “Spring Fling” dance party. A school in Montelair, New Jersey, called off a fifth-grade trip to an amusement park.

The smoke was wafting (飘荡) over the US northern border from Canada, where hundreds of forest fires have burnt 9. 4 million acres and forced 120,000 people from their homes in an unusually early and intense start to Canada’s wildfire season.

Tyrone Sylvester, 66, playing chess outside in Manhattan’s Union Square us he has on most days for 30 years, but wearing a mask, said he had never seen the city’s air quality so bad. “When the sun looks like that,” he said, pointing at the smoky sky, “we know something’s wrong. This is what global warming looks like.”

Poor air quality is likely to continue into the weekend, with a developing storm system expected to shift the smoke westward across the Great Lakes and deeper south through the Ohio Valley and into the mid-Atlantic region, AccuWeather said.

1. What do we know about Mohammed Abass?

A．He took a test for driving.	B．He had no driving license.
C．He had some health conditions.	D．He stayed indoors as expected.

2. Which is closest in meaning to “deferred” in paragraph 7?

A．Put off.

B．Took over.

C．Came up with.

D．Did away with.

3. What does the eighth paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Canada’s poor management.	B．The areas affected by wildfires.
C．The cause of America’s smoke.	D．The consequences of air pollution.

4. What can be learned from the last two paragraphs?

A．New York City smoke situation is not uncomfortable.

B．A strong wind will probably relieve the poor air quality.

C．Citizens have found new ways to fight climate changes.

D．The city’s air pollution doesn’t relate to global warming.

6 . 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

On 20th July 1969, Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon, after which the Apollo 11 mission landed back to Earth     1     (safe) and successfully. With the development of space travel, people got used to     2     idea of the space shuttle flights and treated them like airplane flights, never     3     (expect) a problem. So, when the Challenger space shuttle took off on 28th January 1986, the world seemed to have lost     4     (it) wonder at the astronauts involved. But it was special because there was a teacher, called Christa McAuliffe,     5     wanted to give two 15-minute lessons from orbit to the students to inspire a new generation of astronauts and space     6     (scientist). Unfortunately, the shuttle exploded just over a minute after taking off in Florida, and all seven astronauts     7     board were killed. The whole world was shocked and it brought home the reality of how complex space flight really was. Space shuttle flights didn’t make any progress for nearly three years until the cause of the disaster     8     (investigate). The space shuttle programme resumed with the successful launch of Discovery on 29th September 1988.

We’ll never forget the     9     (lose) of the Challenger and the seven astronauts. The memory of them will inspire us     10     (join) them in humanity’s greatest journey of exploration and discovery.

7 . 语法填空

A fire     1    (break) out in the Henderson Tower, starting from the 8th floor and     2    (spread) quickly through the tower block on Sunday night.     3     has been confirmed that 4 people are dead and dozens of people are injured, 5 of     4     are in a critical condition. The fire was started by a     5    (drop) cigarette end on a carpet of the 8th floor and it is     6    (current)being investigated further. 

News reports on     7     same events usually contain different or even contradictory information, because journalists decide on different     8    (priority), which would affect how they report an event. So facing such     9    (fact) differences, do not rush to the conclusion that one of the news reports gives false information. Checking different sources enables us     10    (draw) a more informed conclusion. 

In a word, when we read news reports, we should be critical news readers.

8 . 语法填空

Henry was an     1    (America), who worked for a mining company. One day he was sailing when he had     2     accident. He found himself     3    (carry) out to sea by a strong wind. He didn’t know whether he could survive the next morning.     4    (lucky), he was spotted by a ship and arrived in London by accident. He had no money. He was     5     (lose) in London and was wandering the streets. To     6     (he) surprise, an unbelievable thing happened. Two rich brothers invited him into their house.

When the two brothers learned that Henry had no money, one of the brothers said it was a lucky thing,     7     made Henry upset. He thought they     8     (make) fun of him. He wanted to leave the house,     9     the two brothers stopped him and gave him a letter. They asked him not     10     (open) it until two o’clock in the afternoon. Henry said he would keep his word and left the house.

9 . Most people are hoping the recent stranding (搁浅) of the 1,300-foot, 220,000-ton Ever Given container ship (集装箱货运船) in the Suez Canal was a one-off---just a case of a very big ship getting stuck in a narrow waterway. However, more than 100 ships of similar size are passing through the world’s waterways, and even bigger ones are being built.

Capt.Andrew Kinsey, a senior marine-risk consultant (海洋风险顾问) for a global financial services firm, says with heavy weather in the North Pacific Ocean over the past year, a lot of containers are going overboard (落水). Part of the problem is the way the ultra-large ships handle at sea with towering stacks (堆叠) of containers, especially in strong winds.

Alan Murphy, chief executive of a container-shipping research and advisory firm in Copenhagen, Denmark, says it’s difficult to know whether there has been an increase in the number of containers going overboard or if trans-Pacific container losses over the past year have just received more attention.In a November report, the World Shipping Council found the number of such incidents to be falling in recent years, although the report does not cover 2020. There is no central database for reporting container losses, so it’s not known exactly how many containers fall overboard, Murphy says.

Murphy says container ships are often fully loaded nowadays, as demand for consumer products has jumped during the corona virus pandemic. “In the past, these huge ships have never really sailed as fully loaded as they are now,” he says.“Obviously, the more the ship carries, the greater the risk of an incident happening.”

“The stranding of Ever Given in the Suez Canal is a warning,” Kinsey says.“We’ve been bring up the issue of size in our yearly safety and shipping review and in papers for over five years.”

Carrying more containers needs bigger and wider ships, which means it is harder for them to sail through narrow waterways like the Suez Canal and move when they get stuck.

1. What can we imply from paragraph 1?

A．It might be a tough task to build bigger ships.

B．Costs of overseas shipments might rise sharply.

C．There might be changes in the world’s waterways.

D．More accidents like the recent stranding might happen.

2. What did the World Shipping Council find in the November report?

A．No database for reporting container losses had been created.

B．Trans-Pacific container losses had received more attention.

C．The number of container losses had dropped in recent years before 2020.

D．More container losses happened in 2020 than in the past few years.

3. What leads to fully loaded container ships nowadays according to Murphy?

A．The extreme weather.	B．The increasing size of ships
C．The slow transportation.	D．The growing demand for consumer goods.

4. What do Kinsey’s words in the 5^th paragraph show?

A．Warnings about the risks of stranding are given yearly.

B．Concern about larger ships has been voiced for some time.

C．Some container ships can carry as many goods as Ever Given.

D．Ships bigger than Ever Given won’t be allowed through the Suez Canal.

10 . People have always been attracted to rock-climbing and plenty of accidents have resulted from this hobby. Seventeen-year-old Wendy Sherlock has fallen three times without any injury while rock-climbing, but after her latest accident last Saturday, she is lucky to be alive.

Wendy has been in hospital for two days after an eight-metre fall from a rocky cliff in the Sanderson National Park. She doesn't remember much about the accident, and it's not surprising considering her injuries.

“I've got quite a bad head injury — that's the worst thing." Wendy explained. “But I've also broken my arm and a couple of my ribs (肋骨) and there's a problem with my left shoulder." She doesn't know how long she will have to stay in hospital, as the doctors haven't told her yet. However, she is realistic about her recovery. "I'll be in here for a while, and I need time to recover because I hit my head when I fell on the ground. That's why I can't remember anything about the accident.”

Wendy's doctors are certain that there's no long-lasting damage, but they've advised her to give up her dangerous sport. However, Wendy is undeterred. "Since I was a child, I've always loved climbing and I decided to continue doing it," she said. "I think this accident is simply a reminder to take a little more care. I've started to feel better already, and I can't wait to start climbing again."

1. What can we know from the first paragraph?

A．Wendy is experienced in mountain climbing.	B．Wendy never had accidents while rock-climbing.
C．Wendy got seriously injured while rock-climbing.	D．No difficulty can stop Wendy from rock-climbing.

2. Why can't Wendy remember much about the accident?

A．She has fallen three times.	B．She has a bad head injury.
C．She has to stay in hospital for a long time.	D．She can't wait to start rock-climbing again.

3. What does the underlined word “undeterred” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Not confused.

B．Not determined.

C．Not satisfied.

D．Not discouraged.

4. Which of the following can be the best title?

A．Cool Sports.

B．A Lesson for Wendy.

C．Sports and Fitness.

D．A Climbing Accident.