专题02 阅读理解（说明文&议论文）（期末真题好题速递）-【好题汇编】备战2024-2025学年高二英语上学期期末真题分类汇编（江苏专用）

专题02 阅读理解（说明文&议论文）（江苏专用） 01 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市江宁区·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) In early December, the US broke a terrible new record:38mass shootings in a single year, in which 203 people have died. This beat the previous record of 36 mass shootings, according to The Guardian. But why is there so much gun violence in the US? Although the issue is complicated, there are three big reasons: too many guns, weak gun laws and loopholes(漏洞), and cultural factors. The US has a lot of guns –120.5guns for every 100 Americans, according to a 2017 survey. In other words, there are more guns than people in the US. This makes it easier for people to get guns. Although US federal law says certain people can’t buy guns, it’s still fairly easy for Americans to buy them anyway, said Vox. A big part of this is loopholes in gun sales. In the US, when you buy a gun from a licensed shop or at a gun show, they have to check your background. But if you buy from a private seller, they don’t have to do that. Even in those cases where a background check is made, it can only take up to three days at most. If the seller does not receive a clear answer within three days, the seller can still sell the gun, reported CGTN. The US also has a unique gun culture, influenced by the Second Amendment(第二修正案)of the US Constitution. Some people believe it gives them special rights, making them refuse to give up their guns for the greater good. Despite these challenges, around 60 percent of Americans think gun violence is a big problem and want stricter gun laws, a 2022 Pew Research Center study said. But it’s unclear if US lawmakers, who listen to powerful gun groups like the National Rifle Association or Gun Owners of America, will make changes. 28. What are the main reasons for increasing gun violence in the US? a. the high ownership of guns         b. the weak laws on buying guns c. the light punishment on gun violence         d. the right to have guns in the minds of Americans A. abc B. abd C. acd D. bcd 29. Those who are not allowed to have guns ________. A. won’t have any chance to buy guns B. can purchase guns with a special license C. can purchase guns from private sellers D. can buy guns by showing their background 30. In the writer’s opinion, to keep gun violence under control in the US is ________. A. meaningless B. costly C. tough D. possible 31. What’s the structure of the story? A. B. C. D. 【答案】28. B 29. C 30. C 31. A 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了美国枪支暴力事件增多的主要原因。 28.细节理解题。根据第一段“Although the issue is complicated , there are three big reasons: too many guns, weak gun laws and loopholes(漏洞), and cultural factors.”(虽然这个问题很复杂，但有三个主要原因:枪支太多，枪支法律薄弱和漏洞，以及文化因素)可知，美国枪支暴力事件增多的原因有：枪支过多，枪支法律薄弱和文化因素，故选B项。 29.细节理解题。根据第三段“Although US federal law says certain people can’t buy guns, it’s still fairly easy for Americans to buy them anyway, said Vox.”(Vox说，尽管美国联邦法律规定某些人不能买枪，但美国人还是很容易买到枪)及“In the US, when you buy a gun from a licensed shop or at a gun show, they have to check your background. But if you buy from a private seller, they don’t have to do that.”(在美国，当你从有执照的商店或枪支展上买枪时，他们必须检查你的背景。但如果你从私人卖家那里购买，他们就不需要这么做)可知，那些不允许有枪的人能从私人买家那里购买，故选C项。 30.推理判断题。根据倒数第二段“The US also has a unique gun culture, influenced by the Second Amendment(第二修正案)of the US Constitution. Some people believe it gives them special rights, making them refuse to give up their guns for the greater good.”(受美国宪法第二修正案的影响，美国也有独特的枪支文化。有些人认为这给了他们特殊的权利，让他们拒绝为了更大的利益而放弃枪支)根据第五段“But it’s unclear if US lawmakers, who listen to powerful gun groups like the National Rifle Association or Gun Owners of America, will make changes.”(但目前尚不清楚美国立法者是否会做出改变，他们听从全国步枪协会或美国枪支所有者等强大的枪支组织的意见)推断出在美国控制枪支暴力是很困难的，故选C项。 31.推理判断题。根据第一段“Although the issue is complicated , there are three big reasons: too many guns, weak gun laws and loopholes(漏洞), and cultural factors.”(虽然这个问题很复杂，但有三个主要原因:枪支太多，枪支法律薄弱和漏洞，以及文化因素)可知，第一段提出了美国枪支暴力增多的原因，第二段“In other words, there are more guns than people in the US.”(换句话说，美国的枪支比人口还多)、第三段“Although US federal law says certain people can’t buy guns, it’s still fairly easy for Americans to buy them anyway, said Vox.”(Vox说，尽管美国联邦法律规定某些人不能买枪，但美国人还是很容易买到枪)及第四段“The US also has a unique gun culture, influenced by the Second Amendment(第二修正案)of the US Constitution.”(受美国宪法第二修正案的影响，美国也有独特的枪支文化)可知，这三段分别介绍了第一段的美国枪支暴力增多的三个原因，第五段“But it’s unclear if US lawmakers, who listen to powerful gun groups like the National Rifle Association or Gun Owners of America, will make changes.”(但目前尚不清楚美国立法者是否会做出改变，他们听从全国步枪协会或美国枪支所有者等强大的枪支组织的意见)推断出最后一段是总结：控制枪支并不容易。所以文章结构是总①—分②③④—总⑤，故选A项。 02 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市江宁区·期末统考) C TVB’s 56th-anniversary show, The Queen of News, has become popular across the country. It stars actors Charmaine Sheh and Kenneth Ma . People enjoy talking about its plot and copying its pointed lines. The show got 8.2 points out of 10 on the review website Douban. Telling the stories of news reporters competing for the top spot during golden time, some said, the show was a bit over the top. But the fantastic plot where the main character overcomes challenges on the way to success is loved by many. The Queen of News is a so-called “feel-good drama”, a type of drama that has become more and more popular in recent years. But why do people enjoy such dramas so much? One of the reasons is that the plots in these shows are easy to follow. They often tell stories where the main character goes from facing difficulties to seeking revenge(复仇)and, in the end, earning respect and success. This kind of show allows people to forget about their worries and challenges in life and feel happy while watching them. Han Ning, a psychological counselor who works in Nanjing, told the Yangtze Evening Post that feel-good dramas can help with mental health . These shows can meet the emotional needs of the audience. They also help people lower their anxiety and stress levels. However, some people worry that feel-good dramas may lead people to look at life in an unrealistic way. If people look too deeply into these big personality changes of characters and the excitement of the story, it may affect how they think they should live their lives, noted Guangming Daily. The newspaper added that these dramas should cut out the over-the-top parts that are larger-than-life. 28. Which word is closest in meaning to “over the top” in Paragraph 2? A. sharp. B. dramatic. C. competitive. D. unrealistic. 29. What do we know about “feel-good dramas”? A. Their plots are close to real life. B. Their plots are easy to follow. C. They star the most popular idols. D. They usually get high points on Douban. 30. Why are “feel-good dramas” popular according to Han Ning? A. Because they help the audience release stress. B. Because they come from and are used in life. C. Because they teach useful life lessons. D. Because they let the audience feel respected. 31. What idea might Guangming Daily agree with? A. People shouldn’t watch “feel-good dramas”. B. The dramas should promote more realistic views. C. We should closely watch the qualities of the dramas. D. It’s good to watch “feel-good dramas” sometimes. 【答案】28. D 29. B 30. A 31. B 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了TVB 56周年台庆剧《新闻女王》的受欢迎情况以及“治愈系”电视剧的流行原因和影响，并探讨了人们对这种类型电视剧的担忧和建议。 28.词义猜测题。根据下文“But the fantastic plot where the main character overcomes challenges on the way to success is loved by many.(但是主角在通往成功的道路上克服挑战的精彩情节受到了许多人的喜爱)”中“But”可推知，划线词所在句与下文之间是转折关系，下文说电视剧情节受到了许多人的喜爱，由此推知，上文“some said, the show was a bit over the top”是电视剧的负面评价。结合选项和下文中“the fantastic plot”可推知，over the top最有可能与unrealistic同义，是指“不切实际的；不实在的”，故选D项。 29.细节理解题。根据第三段中“But why do people enjoy such dramas so much? One of the reasons is that the plots in these shows are easy to follow.(但是为什么人们如此喜欢这类电视剧呢?其中一个原因是这些剧的情节很容易理解)”可知，“治愈系”电视剧情节很容易理解，故选B项。 30.推理判断题。根据第四段中“Han Ning, a psychological counselor who works in Nanjing, told the Yangtze Evening Post that feel-good dramas can help with mental health . These shows can meet the emotional needs of the audience. They also help people lower their anxiety and stress levels.(在南京工作的心理咨询师韩宁在接受《扬子晚报》采访时表示，“治愈系”电视剧有助于心理健康。这些节目可以满足观众的情感需求。它们还能帮助人们降低焦虑和压力水平)”可推知，韩宁认为，“治愈系”电视剧如此受欢迎是因为它们有助于心理健康，能帮助观众释放压力，故选A项。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段中“If people look too deeply into these big personality changes of characters and the excitement of the story, it may affect how they think they should live their lives, noted Guangming Daily. The newspaper added that these dramas should cut out the over-the-top parts that are larger-than-life.(《光明日报》指出，如果人们对这些人物性格的大变化和故事的刺激感看得太深，可能会影响他们对自己应该如何生活的看法。该报还补充说，这些电视剧应该删去那些夸张的、具有传奇色彩的部分)”可知，光明日报社认为电视剧应该删去那些夸张的、具有传奇色彩的情节，由此推知，光明日报社可能会赞同“电视剧应该提倡更现实的观点”这一说法，故选B项。 03 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市六校联合体·期末联考) C Here is a situation: you and a new acquaintance(相识的人)are having a conversation. The conversation has a pleasant atmosphere. You leave, satisfied. Hours later, a thought appears. “Ugh, I really shouldn’t have said that.” You can’t stop replaying the conversation over and over, picking out moments when you sounded like a babbling(胡言乱语的)baby. You finally conclude that you’re a fool who doesn’t know how to communicate. What you’ve experienced is the liking gap, a theory that explains that people commonly underestimate how well they’re liked after communicating with another person. Researchers published the first study on it just a few years ago in Psychological Science. To find and demonstrate the liking gap, the researchers looked at several scenes where people were just getting to know each other: as strangers got acquainted in a lab, as freshmen got to know their roommates, and as strangers got to know each other in a workshop. In each scene, researchers asked each person how much they liked the person they talked with, and how much they thought their conversation partner liked them. Across the board, people rated their “perceived liking” lower than they were actually liked. The liking gap usually exists between newly acquainted people, but researchers say it also exists between friends who haven’t communicated with each other for a long time. The liking gap exists because we can’t ask people how much they like us after a conversation. We have to run back over the conversation and reevaluate everything we said, wondering how it sounded to a stranger. Those guesses are often influenced by an inner talk that’s rather negative.  As the researchers learned, people underestimate how well-liked they are, even in situations where the person they’re talking with gives signals(smiles or hand gestures)that they like the conversation. Because we are too absorbed in thinking about what we’re saying and how it sounds to notice those signals, the liking gap still exists. The liking gap is important for us to understand the influence we have on other people. People like us more than we realize, which in turn means we have more influence than we realize. One comfort is that, in the case of the college roommates, researchers found that the liking gap narrowed with time. While you may feel stupid around new people or just people you haven’t contacted for years, it is scientifically demonstrated that the feeling won’t continue. As you get to know someone better and feel more confident in your communication with them, the gap gets smaller. 28. How do you feel at last in Paragraph 1? A. Satisfied. B. Regretful. C. Surprised. D. Cheerful. 29. How did the researchers prove the existence of the liking gap? A. By comparing people’s answers. B. By observing people’s expressions. C. By researching the content of the talks. D. By judging the views people expressed in the talks. 30. Why does the liking gap continue to exist even though positive signals are given? A. Because we are interested in the words. B. Because we pay much more attention to ourselves. C. Because our inner talks disagree with those positive signals. D. Because our conversation partners give those signals out of politeness. 31. What can we infer about the liking gap according to the passage? A. It makes people feel stupid all the time. B. It reduces people’s influence on others. C. It lets people underestimate their influence. D. It leads to less communication among people. 【答案】28. B 29. A 30. B 31. C 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了什么是“喜欢差距”，这个理论解释了人们通常低估了他们在与另一个人交流后被喜欢的程度。文章介绍了相关研究的内容以及带来的启发。 28.推理判断题。根据第一段“Here is a situation: you and a new acquaintance(相识的人)are having a conversation. The conversation has a pleasant atmosphere. You leave, satisfied. Hours later, a thought appears. “Ugh, I really shouldn’t have said that.” You can’t stop replaying the conversation over and over, picking out moments when you sounded like a babbling(胡言乱语的)baby. You finally conclude that you’re a fool who doesn’t know how to communicate.(假设有这样一种情况：你和一个新认识的人正在交谈。谈话的气氛很愉快。你心满意足地离开了。几个小时后，一个想法出现了。“呃，我真不应该这么说。”你无法停止一遍又一遍地回放这段对话，挑出那些你听起来像个咿呀学语的婴儿的时刻。你最终得出结论，你是一个不知道如何沟通的傻瓜)”可推知，你最后感觉后悔，故选B。 29.推理判断题。根据第二段“In each scene, researchers asked each person how much they liked the person they talked with, and how much they thought their conversation partner liked them. Across the board, people rated their “perceived liking” lower than they were actually liked. The liking gap usually exists between newly acquainted people, but researchers say it also exists between friends who haven’t communicated with each other for a long time.(在每个场景中，研究人员询问每个人他们有多喜欢与他们交谈的人，以及他们认为他们的谈话对象有多喜欢他们。总的来说，人们对自己“感知到的喜欢”的评价低于实际得到的喜欢。这种喜好差距通常存在于刚认识的人之间，但研究人员表示，这种差距也存在于长时间没有联系的朋友之间)”可推知，研究人员通过比较人们的答案证明“喜欢差距”的存在，故选A。 30.细节理解题。根据第三段“Because we are too absorbed in thinking about what we’re saying and how it sounds to notice those signals, the liking gap still exists.(因为我们太专注于思考自己在说什么，听起来如何，而没有注意到这些信号，所以喜欢的差距仍然存在)”可知，即使给出了积极的信号，喜欢差距仍然存在是因为我们更加关注自己，故选B。 31.推理判断题。根据倒数第二段“People like us more than we realize, which in turn means we have more influence than we realize.(人们比我们意识到的更喜欢我们，这反过来意味着我们比我们意识到的更有影响力)”可推知，喜欢差距让人们低估了自己的影响力，故选C。 04 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·无锡市·期末统考) C A virtual reality headset has restored(修复)sight to people who are legally blind. While it didn’t cure the physical cause of their blindness, the device let people with severe macular degeneration(黄斑退化)go on with activities like reading and gardening — tasks they previously found impossible. Macular degeneration is a common, age-related condition. It affects many people worldwide. It leaves people with a blind spot in the centre of their vision and causes legal blindness. The new system, called Iris Vision, uses VR headset to make the most of peripheral vision(周边视觉). It records the person’s surroundings and displays them in real time, and the user can widen the image as many times as they need for their peripheral vision to become clear. Doing so also helps to effectively reduce or remove their blind spot. In a trial,30 people used the system for two weeks, filling out questionnaires on their ability to complete daily activities before and after the period. “They can do things that for years were not even a consideration,” says David Rhew at Samsung Electronics America. According to Rhew, the vision of participants was all but restored with the headset. “The baseline rate of vision in the individuals came in at 20/400, which is legally blind, and with the use of this technology it improved to 20/30, which is pretty close to 20/20 vision,” he says. Tom Peterson has serious macular degeneration. When he first started using the device, “It was an emotional experience. I sensed that I could see again and tears started coming,” he says. The results were presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology(眼科学)annual meeting. The headset is now being used in 80 ophthalmology centres around the US, and the next step is to adapt the software to work for other vision disorders. Some have commented that it is heavy for long periods of use. “Many people with macular degeneration regularly use eight to ten different tools, such as telescopes and magnifying glasses, to help them with daily life, but Iris Vision can replace them all,” says Perski. 28. What may lead to legal blindness? A. Too much reading. B. A blind spot. C. Increasing ages. D. Macular degeneration. 29. Why is Tom Peterson mentioned in paragraph 3? A. To explain the process of the trial. B. To show the problems with the trial. C. To prove the effectiveness of Iris Vision. D. To promote the new product of Iris Vision. 30. What attitude does Perski hold towards Iris Vision? A. Objective. B. Negative. C. Supportive. D. Critical. 31. What’s the best title of the text? A. A VR headset —new ways to cure blindness B. A VR headset —good news for blind people C. Macular degeneration —a deadly eye disease D. Macular degeneration — an important body organ 【答案】28. D 29. C 30. C 311. B 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍的是一款可以让法定盲人重见光明的虚拟现实耳机。 28.细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Macular degeneration is a common, age-related condition. It affects many people worldwide. It leaves people with a blind spot in the centre of their vision and causes legal blindness.(黄斑变性是一种常见的与年龄有关的疾病。它影响着全世界许多人。它在人们的视觉中心留下了一个盲点，导致了法定盲)”可知，黄斑变性影响着全世界的许多人，它在人们的视觉中心留下一个盲点，导致法定盲，由此可知，黄斑变性导致法定盲，故选D项。 29.推理判断题。根据第三段中的“Tom Peterson has serious macular degeneration. When he first started using the device, “It was an emotional experience. I sensed that I could see again and tears started coming,” he says.(当他第一次开始使用这个设备时，“这是一种情感体验。我感觉到我又能看见了，眼泪开始流了出来。”)”可知，黄斑变性患者Tom Peterson使用虹膜视觉系统虚拟现实头戴式眼镜获得了能够再次看到的体验，这让他兴奋得流泪由此可知，本段提到Tom Peterson是为了证明这个设备是有效果，故选C项。 30.推理判断题。根据尾段中的““Many people with macular degeneration regularly use eight to ten different tools, such as telescopes and magnifying glasses, to help them with daily life, but Iris Vision can replace them all,” says Perski.(“许多患有黄斑变性的人经常使用八到十种不同的工具，如望远镜和放大镜，来帮助他们的日常生活，但虹膜视觉可以取代它们，”Perski说)”可知，使用虹膜视觉取代了以前患有黄斑变性所使用的八到十种不同的工具，由此可知，虹膜视觉给黄斑变性患者带来了方便，所以Perski对虹膜视觉是赞成的，故选C项。 31.主旨大意题。根据首段中的“A virtual reality headset has restored(修复)sight to people who are legally blind. While it didn’t cure the physical cause of their blindness, the device let people with severe macular degeneration(黄斑退化)go on with activities like reading and gardening — tasks they previously found impossible.(一款虚拟现实头戴式眼镜让法定盲人重见光明。虽然这并不能治愈他们失明的生理原因，但该设备让患有严重黄斑变性的人继续进行阅读和园艺等活动，这些活动是他们以前认为不可能完成的)”可知，一款虚拟现实头戴式眼镜虽然不能治愈他们的生理原因，但是可以让患有严重黄斑变性的人继续进行一些阅读和园艺等活动，为法定盲人带来了光明，结合下文介绍的该款虚拟现实头戴式眼镜的效果以及发展前景的介绍可知，本文主要介绍的是一款给法定盲人带来光明的虚拟现实头戴式眼镜，所以题目“虚拟现实头戴式眼镜——盲人的福音”与本文的内容相关，且可以概括本文的主题，故选B项。 05 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·常州市·期末统考) C Recent headlines claimed that regular napping(打盹)can build a bigger brain and slow neural(神经的)aging. The research was published in the journal Sleep Health. To explore whether napping is beneficial to brain health over the long term, the study authors made use of UK Biobank,a database of in-depth genetic and health information from half a million residents of the United Kingdom. Thanks to the data in the UK Biobank, they were able to link numerous gene variants(变体)to a greater likelihood of napping in 378,932 subjects(all of whom were aged 40 to 69). The likelihood of napping was measured based on how subjects replied to the question, “Do you have a nap during the day?” The options were“never or rarely,” “sometimes,” and “usually.” When it comes to napping, two key variables(变量)that can influence data greatly are age and sickness. Older and sicker people tend to nap more often and for longer because they easily get tired. The researchers found that the people with the gene variants linked to napping had slightly larger brains than people without those gene variants, about 1.3% larger. That might sound small, but the authors of the study noted that it can be quite significant. “Our finding of a larger total brain volume in those who usually nap is nearly equal to 2.6 to 6.5 years of difference in aging,” they wrote. “In addition, this difference roughly equals to the difference in brain volume between people with normal cognitive(认知的)function and mild cognitive impairment.” Professor Tara Spires-Jones, President of the British Neuroscience Association, said that the study was well-conducted, but had remarkable limitations. “The napping habits of UK Biobank participants were self-reported, which might not be entirely accurate, and the ‘napping’ signature overlapped(重叠)greatly with the signature for cognitive outcomes in the study, which makes the causal(因果关系的)link weaker.” Additionally, as the brain is easily the most important organ in the body, it’s quite possible that people with larger brains simply need to nap more, rather than napping actually increasing their brain size. So don’t look to napping as an ideal way to buff up your brain. 28. What’s the major finding of the research? A. Regular napping does good to human brain. B. Age and sickness has little to do with napping. C. People with napping gene get tired more easily. D. Napping people can live 2.6 to 6.5 years longer. 29. Which of the following research methods might be used in the research process? A. Logic reasoning. B. Unplanned sampling. C. Data analysis. D. Doing Experiments. 30. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “impairment”? A. damage B. recovery C. understanding D. development 31. Which of the following statements might Professor Tara Spires-Hones agree with? A. The research result is acceptable. B. Napping boosts people’s brain size. C. The study shouldn’t have used UK Biobank. D. Napping doesn’t matter much to people’s brain. 【答案】28. A 29. C 30. A 31. D 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。最近的头条新闻声称，有规律的午睡可以让大脑更大，减缓神经老化。文章对此进行了介绍。 28.细节理解题。根据第一段第一句“Recent headlines claimed that regular napping(打盹)can build a bigger brain and slow neural(神经的)aging.(最近的头条新闻声称，有规律的午睡可以让大脑更大，减缓神经老化)”可知，这项研究的主要发现是有规律的午睡对人的大脑有好处，故选A。 29.推理判断题。根据第二段第一句“Thanks to the data in the UK Biobank, they were able to link numerous gene variants(变体)to a greater likelihood of napping in 378,932 subjects(all of whom were aged 40 to 69).(多亏了英国生物银行的数据，他们能够将378,932名受试者(年龄均在40至69岁之间）的许多基因变异与更大的午睡可能性联系起来)”可知，研究过程中可能使用了数据分析的调查方法，故选C。 30.词义猜测题。根据第四段最后一句中的“this difference roughly equals to the difference in brain volume between people with normal cognitive(认知的)function(这一差异大致相当于具有正常认知功能的人和……的脑容量差异)”可知，此处是指具有正常认知功能的人和认知能力有损的人，所以impairment意为“损伤”，故选A。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段最后两句“Additionally, as the brain is easily the most important organ in the body, it’s quite possible that people with larger brains simply need to nap more, rather than napping actually increasing their brain size. So don’t look to napping as an ideal way to buff up your brain.(此外，由于大脑是人体最重要的器官，很有可能大脑更大的人只是需要更多的午睡，而不是午睡实际上增加了他们的大脑体积。所以，不要把午睡看作是锻炼大脑的理想方式)”可知，泰拉·斯皮尔斯-霍恩教授可能会认同小睡对人的大脑影响不大的看法，故选D。 06 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省常州高级中学·期末考试) C(原卷为B篇) One of the biggest concerns about today’s tech giants is their market power. In many countries, Google, Facebook, and Amazon dominate online search, social media, and online retail respectively. And yet economists have largely failed to address these concerns in a proper way. To help regulators as they struggle to address this market concentration, we must make economics itself more relevant to the digital age. Digital markets often become highly concentrated, with one dominant firm, because larger players enjoy significant returns. For example, data generation plays a self reinforcing(自我强化的)rule; more data improves the service, which brings more users, and then generates more data. As several recent reports have pointed out, the digital economy poses a problem for competition policy. Competition is vital for boosting productivity and long term growth, because it drives out inefficient producers and encourages innovation. Yet how can this happen when there are such dominant players? Today’s digital giants provide services that people want: one recent study estimated that consumers value online search alone at a level which is equal to about half of media income. Rather than assessing likely short-term trends in specific digital markets, they need to be able to estimate the potential long-term costs. This is no easy task, because there is no standard methodology(方法)for estimating uncertain futures. Economists ever disagree on how to measure static consumer valuations of free digital goods such as online search and social media. And although the idea that competition operates dynamically through firms entering and exiting the market dates back at least to Joseph Schumpeter, the standard approach is still to look at competition among similar companies producing similar goods at a point in time. The characteristics of digital technology pose a great challenge to the entire discipline. As I pointed out more than 20 years ago, the digital economy is “weightless”. Moreover, many digital goods are non-rival “public goods”. You can use software code without stopping others from doing so, whereas only one person can wear the same pair of shoes. 28. What makes the regulators worry about the tech giants? A. Market dominance. B. Market profits. C. Digital high-tech. D. Economic stability. 29. How does a digital platform get profits? A. By enlarging the platform. B. By collecting more data. C. By avoiding network effects. D. By encouraging innovation. 30. What causes the difficulty in estimating a digital company? ①Lack of standard methodology.      ②Disagreements among economists. ③Innovation from producers.         ④Use of digital products at the same time. A. ①②③ B. ②③④ C. ①③④ D. ①②④ 31. Where does the passage probably come from? A. A business magazine. B. A science report. C. A marketing guide. D. An IT textbook. 【答案】28. A 29. B 30. D 31. A 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了科技巨头的市场支配地位让监管机构担心，说明了评估一家数字化公司存在困难的几点原因。 28.细节理解题。根据第一段“One of the biggest concerns about today’s tech giants is their market power. In many countries, Google, Facebook, and Amazon dominate online search, social media, and online retail respectively. (当今科技巨头最大的担忧之一是它们的市场力量。在许多国家，谷歌、Facebook和亚马逊分别主导着在线搜索、社交媒体和在线零售)”可知，科技巨头的市场支配地位让监管机构担心，故选A。 29.细节理解题。根据第二段“Digital markets often become highly concentrated, with one dominant firm, because larger players enjoy significant returns. For example, data generation plays a self reinforcing(自我强化的)rule; more data improves the service, which brings more users, and then generates more data.(数字市场往往高度集中，一家公司占主导地位，因为规模较大的参与者享有可观的回报。例如，数据生成是一种自我强化规则；数据越多，服务越好，用户越多，数据就越多)”可知，数字平台通过收集更多的数据来获得利润，故选B。 30.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“This is no easy task, because there is no standard methodology(方法)for estimating uncertain futures. Economists ever disagree on how to measure static consumer valuations of free digital goods such as online search and social media.(这不是一件容易的事，因为没有标准的方法来估计不确定的未来。对于如何衡量消费者对在线搜索和社交媒体等免费数字产品的静态估值，经济学家一直存在分歧)”以及最后一段“Moreover, many digital goods are non-rival “public goods”.(此外，许多数字产品是非竞争性的“公共产品”)”可知，缺乏标准的方法、经济学家之间的分歧以及同时使用数码产品导致了评估一家数字化公司的困难，故选D。 31.推理判断题。根据第一段“One of the biggest concerns about today’s tech giants is their market power. In many countries, Google, Facebook, and Amazon dominate online search, social media, and online retail respectively. And yet economists have largely failed to address these concerns in a proper way. To help regulators as they struggle to address this market concentration, we must make economics itself more relevant to the digital age.(当今科技巨头最大的担忧之一是它们的市场力量。在许多国家，谷歌、Facebook和亚马逊分别主导着在线搜索、社交媒体和在线零售。然而，经济学家在很大程度上未能以适当的方式解决这些担忧。为了帮助监管机构应对这种市场集中度问题，我们必须让经济学本身与数字时代更加相关)”结合文章，本文主要说明了科技巨头的市场支配地位让监管机构担心，说明了评估一家数字化公司存在困难的几点原因。可推知，文章选自商业杂志，故选A。 07 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省常州高级中学·期末考试) C It is reported that the sense of smell plays a dominant role in the social interactions of all land animals except humans. Then the question arises: Is this because humans don’t use their noses in social settings the way all other land animals do? Or is this behavior covert(隐蔽的), rather than overt, in humans? In fact, this is exactly what Inbal Ravreby, a graduate student in Prof. Noam Sobel’s laboratory in Weizmann’s Brain Sciences Department, tried to answer. And as several lines of evidence suggest that humans are constantly, although mostly subconsciously, sniffing themselves and others, Ravreby supposed that the latter is the case. To test her hypothesis, Ravreby conducted the study with pairs of click friends: same-sex nonromantic friends whose friendships had originally formed very rapidly. Because such friendships emerge prior to an in-depth acquaintance, they may be particularly influenced by physiological characteristics such as body smell. She then collected body smell samples from these click friends and conducted two sets of experiments to compare the samples with those collected from random pairs of individuals. In one set of experiments, she performed the comparison with a device known as an electronic nose, or eNose, which assessed the chemical signatures of the smells. In the other, she asked volunteers to smell the two groups of body smell samples in order to assess similarities measured by human perception. In both types of experiments, click friends were found to smell significantly more like each other than the individuals in the random pairs. Next, to rule out the possibility that body smell similarity was a consequence of click friendships, rather than a contributing cause, Ravreby performed an additional set of experiments, in which she used the eNose to “smell” a number of volunteers who were complete strangers to one another, and then asked them to engage in nonverbal(非言语的)social interactions in pairs. After each such structured interaction, the participants rated the other individual in terms of how much they liked that person. Subsequent analysis revealed that the individuals who had more positive interactions indeed smelled more like each other, as determined by the eNose. “These results imply that, as the saying goes, there is chemistry in social chemistry,” Ravreby concludes. However, Sobel offers words of caution, “This is not to say that we act like dogs or goats — humans likely rely on other, far more dominant signals in their social decision-making. Nevertheless, our study’s results do suggest that our nose plays a bigger role than previously thought in our choice of friends.” 28. What did Inbal Ravreby want to figure out? A. Whether humans have a sharp sense of smell. B. Whether humans’ noses can detect all types of smells. C. Whether it is necessary for humans to sniff other people. D. Whether the sense of smell plays a role in humans’ interaction. 29. What makes the first two sets of experiments different from each other? A. The way to make comparisons. B. The participation of random pairs. C. The way volunteers used the eNose. D. The number of pairs of click friends. 30. Why did Ravreby involve complete strangers in the following experiments? A. To determine the reliability of the finding. B. To avoid interactions between click friends. C. To make the experiments much more interesting. D. To test the accuracy of the eNose in smell analysis. 31. What is Sobel’s attitude towards the research finding? A. Disapproving. B. Doubtful. C. Positive. D. Indifferent. 【答案】28. D 29. A 30. A 31. C 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了研究人员进行研究，证明人类的鼻子在选择朋友时所起的作用比以前想象的更大。 28.推理判断题。根据第一段“It is reported that the sense of smell plays a dominant role in the social interactions of all land animals except humans. Then the question arises: Is this because humans don’t use their noses in social settings the way all other land animals do? Or is this behavior covert, rather than overt, in humans?(据报道，嗅觉在除人类之外的所有陆地动物的社会互动中起着主导作用。那么问题来了：这是因为人类不像其他陆地动物那样在社交环境中使用鼻子吗？或者人类的这种行为是隐蔽的，而不是公开的？)”以及第二段“In fact, this is exactly what Inbal Ravreby, a graduate student in Prof. Noam Sobel’s laboratory in Weizmann’s Brain Sciences Department, tried to answer.(事实上，这正是魏兹曼脑科学系诺姆·索贝尔教授实验室的研究生Inbal Ravreby试图回答的问题)”可推知，Inbal Ravreby想弄清楚的是嗅觉是否在人类的互动中起作用，故选D项。 29.细节理解题。根据第三段“In one set of experiments, she performed the comparison with a device known as an electronic nose, or eNose, which assessed the chemical signatures of the smells. In the other, she asked volunteers to smell the two groups of body smell samples in order to assess similarities measured by human perception. In both types of experiments, click friends were found to smell significantly more like each other than the individuals in the random pairs.(在一组实验中，她与一种叫做电子鼻或者eNose的电子设备进行了比较，该设备评估了气味的化学特征。另一组实验中，她让志愿者闻两组体味样本，以评估人类感知的相似性。在这两种类型的实验中，点击好友的气味明显比随机配对的人更相似)”可知，两组实验中，进行比较时，所使用的方式不同，故选A项。 30.细节理解题。根据第四段“Next, to rule out the possibility that body smell similarity was a consequence of click friendships, rather than a contributing cause, Ravreby performed an additional set of experiments, in which she used the eNose to “smell” a number of volunteers who were complete strangers to one another, and then asked them to engage in nonverbal social interactions in pairs.(接下来，为了排除身体气味相似性是点击友谊的结果，而不是促成原因的可能性，Ravreby进行了一组额外的实验，在实验中，她使用eNose来“闻”一些彼此完全陌生的志愿者，然后让他们两人进行非言语社交互动)”可知，Ravreby进行了一组额外的实验，让完全陌生的志愿者参与实验，是为了排除身体气味相似性是点击友谊的结果这一可能性，确定发现的可靠性，故选A项。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段“Nevertheless, our study’s results do suggest that our nose plays a bigger role than previously thought in our choice of friends.(不过，我们的研究结果确实表明，我们的鼻子在我们选择朋友时所起的作用比以前想象的更大)”可推知，索贝尔肯定了研究的结果，对于研究结果的态度是赞同的，故选C项。 08 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南通海安市·期末统考) C Sports movies are fun, but have you ever watched a sports movie that doesn’t even seem like it’s about sports? Let me give you an option, “Remember The Titans”. A high school football team is forced to integrate, bringing together players from different racial backgrounds. Coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, takes charge and helps the team overcome their differences and work together. Amidst challenges and resistance, the players learn to respect and support each other. Through hard work and determination, they become a united team, overcoming prejudice and achieving success on the field. At the beginning of the movie, a white person murders a black person and there’s a riot(骚乱)going on. Debatable as it is, to be honest, we rarely get to see movies like Remember The Titans now. This is a movie that shows hard work and love can triumph over anything in life and we can feel the actual potential of the human spirit and courage. What makes Remember The Titans an instant classic? It is part heartwarming drama, part true story, part action, all of this is mixed with a banger soundtrack. This is the kind of film that actually transcends all genres, which is not very common today. When was the last time you came across such a movie that impressed you so deeply? Considering the actual script of the movie, it was an impossible task to actually release the movie. No one was willing to publish the movie. The movie’s writer Gregory Allen Howard was refused from every movie house because of the race issue highlighted in the movie. Through lots of struggles, the movie was adapted by Disney, even though it was toned down to make it more “Family-Friendly”. I have seen a lot of movies till now, can’t even begin to count them but there are some movies that take your emotions on a roller coaster. They are more than movies actually, you become a part of them as they become a part of you. Remember the Titans is that kind of movie and I believe that every viewer can learn some life-changing things from it. 28. What do the viewers think of the start of the movie? A. It causes different opinions. B. It is a part of failure. C. It is the most appealing part. D. It lays the foundation for success. 29. Which of the following statements about the movie is right? A. Denzel Washington is a persuasive coach. B. The purpose of it is to protest the violence. C. The twisted plot is attractive to the viewers. D. It’s released effortlessly at the very beginning. 30. What does the underlined phrase “was toned down” in paragraph 4 mean? A. was tolerated unwillingly B. was accepted sincerely C. was criticized aggressively D. was made less offensive 31. What may the following paragraphs tell us? A. The reasons for the movie’s popularity. B. The specific lessons the movie conveys. C. The introduction to Denzel Washington. D. The main plot and characters of the movie. 【答案】28. A 29. C 30. D 31. B 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。短文主要介绍了电影《飞越疯狂》。这部电影讲述了一个高中橄榄球队被迫融合，教练帮助球员克服种族差异，团结一致，最终取得成功。 28.细节理解题。根据第二段“At the beginning of the movie, a white person murders a black person and there’s a riot(骚乱)going on. Debatable as it is, to be honest, we rarely get to see movies like Remember The Titans now.(在电影的开头，一个白人谋杀了一个黑人，引发了一场骚乱。虽然有争议，但说实话，我们现在很少能看到像《记住泰坦》这样的电影)”可知，观众认为电影的开始会引起不同的意见，故选A。 29.推理判断题。根据第一段“Coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, takes charge and helps the team overcome their differences and work together. Amidst challenges and resistance, the players learn to respect and support each other. Through hard work and determination, they become a united team, overcoming prejudice and achieving success on the field.(由丹泽尔·华盛顿饰演的教练赫尔曼·布恩负责管理，帮助球队克服分歧，共同努力。在挑战和阻力中，球员们学会了相互尊重和支持。通过努力和决心，他们成为一个团结的团队，克服偏见，在球场上取得成功)”可推知，曲折的情节对观众很有吸引力，故选C。 30.词义猜测题。根据划线词上文“Through lots of struggles, the movie was adapted by Disney, even though it”以及后文“to make it more “Family-Friendly””可知，经过许多努力，这部电影被迪士尼改编了，为了让它更“适合家庭”，应该是将电影改编成没那么具有攻击性了。故划线词的意思是“变得不那么有攻击性了”，故选D。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段“They are more than movies actually, you become a part of them as they become a part of you. Remember the Titans is that kind of movie and I believe that every viewer can learn some life-changing things from it.(事实上，它们不仅仅是电影，你成为它们的一部分，它们也成为你的一部分。记住，《泰坦》就是那种电影，我相信每个观众都能从中学到一些改变人生的东西)”可推知，以下段落告诉我们这部电影传达的具体教训，故选B。 09 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·泰州市·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) Around 40 million tonnes of electronic waste, known as e-waste, is produced every year. This includes electrical or electronic equipment that has been discarded. But where does it all go? In the US alone, 100 million mobile phones, 41 million computers and over 20 million televisions are thrown into landfills in a year. Even for standard waste this is a big headache, because any materials that are buried in the ground can’t be easily recovered and recycled. Recycling electronics can save energy and means that less of Earth’s natural resources need to be mined. Failing to recycle e-waste is extremely damaging the environment due to the nature of the materials used in modern devices. While heavy metals and chemicals improve a device’s safety and user experience, these components become poisonous if they’re not dealt with properly. Your old phones, Gameboys, kettles, microwaves and more can end up in landfills, leaking their harmful contents into the soil, water and air. Not only does this kill wildlife and destroy ecosystems, but the accumulation of poison can impact human health too. As heavy metals and chemicals flow into lakes and rivers, drinking water becomes polluted. These poisons spread through the soil, impacting the health of crops and animals that people also rely on. In some western countries, e-waste isn’t hidden out of sight in landfills but is burnt in giant, open junkyards. They even ship waste electronics to other countries to deal with, and this often ends up in dumps across Africa and Asia. Workers in these places are exposed to polluted lands and chemical gas. It is urgent that we should reduce the damaging and unsustainable side of e-waste production. Rare earth metals, some plastics and chemicals can be fed into the next generation of electronics. The steps to proper recycling of e-waste are extensive and need large investment, but more and more countries around the world are turning to e-waste recycling. 28. What does the underlined word “discarded” in Paragraph 1 mean? A. Repaired. B. Protected. C. Used. D. Abandoned. 29. What can be learned from Paragraph 2? A. E-waste has a permanent effect on the environment. B. E-waste may do harm to both ecosystems and humans. C. Heavy metals and chemicals are poisonous to the users. D. Burying e-waste into landfills is an effective way to recycle. 30. As for some western countries’ actions, the author is ________. A. supportive B. objective C. concerned D. uncertain 31. What might the author continue to talk about? A. Solutions to destroying e-waste. B. Ways to recycle e-waste properly. C. Applications of recycled materials. D. Investments in restoring ecosystems. 【答案】28. D 29. B 30. C 31. B 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍的是电子垃圾造成环境污染，现在很多国家正通过回收电子垃圾来减少电子垃圾带来的危害。 28.词义猜测题。根据划线单词后的“But where does it all go? In the US alone, 100 million mobile phones, 41 million computers and over 20 million televisions are thrown into landfills in a year.(但这些电子垃圾都去哪儿了呢？仅在美国，每年就有1亿部手机、4100万台电脑和2000多万台电视被扔进垃圾填埋场)”可知，每年有很多的电器和电子产品被扔进了垃圾填埋场，是对电子垃圾去向的回答。由此可知，有很多的电器或者电子产品被丢弃，所以划线单词的意思与“丢弃”意义相近，故选D项。 29.细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Failing to recycle e-waste is extremely damaging the environment due to the nature of the materials used in modern devices.(由于现代设备中使用的材料的性质，未能回收电子垃圾对环境造成了极大的破坏)”可知，未能回收电子垃圾会对环境造成极大的破坏，结合下文中的“Not only does this kill wildlife and destroy ecosystems, but the accumulation of poison can impact human health too. As heavy metals and chemicals flow into lakes and rivers, drinking water becomes polluted. These poisons spread through the soil, impacting the health of crops and animals that people also rely on.(这不仅会杀死野生动物和破坏生态系统，而且毒素的积累也会影响人类的健康。由于重金属和化学物质流入湖泊和河流，饮用水受到污染。这些毒物通过土壤传播，影响人们赖以生存的农作物和动物的健康)”可知，电子垃圾带来的污染会破坏生态系统，影响人类健康，而且还会用向人们赖以生存的农作物和动物的健康。由此可知，电子垃圾可能对生态系统和人类都有害，故选B项。 30.推理判断题。根据第三段中的“They even ship waste electronics to other countries to deal with, and this often ends up in dumps across Africa and Asia. Workers in these places are exposed to polluted lands and chemical gas.(他们甚至把废弃的电子产品运往其他国家处理，而这些电子产品最终往往被倾倒在非洲和亚洲各地。这些地方的工人暴露在被污染的土地和化学气体中)”可知，一些西方国家把废弃的电子产品运往其他国家处理而最终被倾倒在非洲和亚洲各地，而这些地方的工人暴露在被污染的土地和化学气体中，这会给这些工人带来伤害。由此推知，作者对一些西方国家的做法表示担忧，故选C项。 31.推理判断题。根据尾段中的“The steps to proper recycling of e-waste are extensive and need large investment, but more and more countries around the world are turning to e-waste recycling.(合理回收电子垃圾的步骤广泛，需要大量的投资，但世界上越来越多的国家开始转向电子垃圾的回收)”可知，现在世界上越来越多的国际开始转向电子垃圾的回收。由此推知，作者接下来应会谈论恰当回收电子垃圾的方法，故选B项。 10 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·扬州市·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) Generally speaking, the single most important thing you can do to keep your computer safe is make sure your operating system and apps are up-to-date. Because though it looks like nothing has changed afterwards, below the surface every update is fixing bugs and holes that can be taken advantage of by hackers. Modern computer systems are so wildly complicated that it is basically impossible for developers to build a completely secure system. However much you test and try, hackers and people with bad intentions will comb through and look for a bug or a hole they can use to access your private data. The most simple attack is a Bruteforce attack of simply going through and trying every single combination of letters and numbers to, for example, guess a password. This is why you can only get the passcode on your phone wrong three times before it locks up. Phishing isn’t so much clever technology, but is a psychological trick to persuade you to hand over your details. If you browse a website that has http and not https, and you’re on a public WiFi, anyone on the same network could read every word being sent to your phone or computer. This is called A Man In The Middle attack. Finally there is Malware. This is software through which hackers can run their own code on your computer, then they can do whatever they like. This used to be a really, really bad problem. But today, both Windows and Mac are more locked down than they used to be. So though the threat of hackers is real and scary, the good news is that the good guys are getting better at fighting them. But that doesn’t mean we should be contented. The best way to keep your data safe is to remain careful where you click. And, of course, make sure all of your apps are up-to-date, so they have all of the latest safeguards to keep you safe. 28. What happens after your operating system and apps are updated? A. Nothing happens to them. B. They become locked up. C. Data in them are stolen. D. Bugs and holes are fixed. 29. Why does your phone lock up after three incorrect passcode entries? A. To keep other people from working out the passcode. B. To prevent you from falling for a psychological trick. C. To pick up the information being sent to other devices. D. To stop hackers from installing software on your phone. 30. How many means of attack are mentioned in Paragraph 2? A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five. 31. What is the purpose of the passage? A. To inform people of different approaches to hacking the Internet. B. To remind people of the significance of updating apps and systems. C. To appeal to developers to build an entirely secure computer system. D. To blame hackers and those who have the intention to do damage. 【答案】28. D 29. A 30. C 31. B 【语篇导读】本文是说明文。文章主要讲述及时更新程序和软件的重要性。 28.细节理解题。根据第一段的“Because though it looks like nothing has changed afterwards, below the surface every update is fixing bugs and holes that can be taken advantage of by hackers.( 因为尽管看起来之后什么都没有改变，但在表面之下，每次更新都是在修复可能被黑客利用的错误和漏洞)”可知，系统和软件升级后会修复一些错误和漏洞，故选D。 29.细节理解题。根据第二段的“The most simple attack is a Bruteforce attack of simply going through and trying every single combination of letters and numbers to, for example, guess a password. This is why you can only get the passcode on your phone wrong three times before it locks up.(最简单的攻击是一种暴力攻击，简单地通过并尝试每一个字母和数字的组合，例如，猜测密码。这就是为什么你只能输错三次手机密码，手机就会被锁起来)”可知，输入三个错误的密码后手机会被锁是为了阻止别人破解密码，故选A。 30.细节理解题。根据第二段的“his is why you can only get the passcode on your phone wrong three times before it locks up.( 这就是为什么你只能输错三次手机密码，手机就会被锁起来)”；“Phishing isn’t so much clever technology(网络钓鱼并不是什么聪明的技术)”“This is called A Man In The Middle attack.(这被称为中间人攻击)”以及“Finally there is Malware.(最后是恶意软件)”可知，本段提到四种攻击方式，故选C。 31.推理判断题。根据第一段的“Generally speaking, the single most important thing you can do to keep your computer safe is make sure your operating system and apps are up-to-date.(一般来说，为了保证电脑安全，你能做的最重要的事情就是确保你的操作系统和应用程序是最新的)”以及最后一段最后一句“And, of course, make sure all of your apps are up-to-date, so they have all of the latest safeguards to keep you safe.(当然，确保你所有的应用都是最新的，因此它们有所有最新的保护措施来保证你的安全)”可知，文章主要讲述为什么更新程序和软件是重要，因此推断写作目的是为了提醒人们更新软件和系统的重要性，故选B。 11 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·扬州市·期末统考) C For the Greek philosopher Celsus, red wine could be used to treat endless diseases, from tiredness to fever and coughs. But despite its convenient healing powers, the grape, he told his faithful readers, could bring about headaches. Now, researchers believe they have found the reason why red wine causes such headaches. “We think we are finally on the right track toward explaining this old mystery,” said Morris Levin, the director of the Headache Center at the University of California, San Francisco. “The next step is to test it scientifically on people who develop these headaches.” Red wine headaches are different from hangover(宿醉)the morning after the night before. Rather than coming on after a long session, they can strike 30 minutes after drinking only one small glass. The researchers ran lab tests on more than a dozen chemicals in red wine. One stood out. Quercetin(槲皮素), found almost only in red wine, turned out to be particularly effective at blocking the enzyme(酶)that breaks down alcohol. This could be key to solving the mystery. With the important enzyme suppressed, alcohol builds up in the bloodstream. At high levels, this causes headaches, red faces and sweating. According to the researchers, when some people drink red wine with even small amounts of quercetin they can develop a headache. Why some are more affected than others is unclear. The team now hopes to find out the effects of red wines with different quercetin levels. Grapes make quercetin in response to sunlight, so grapes grown in plenty of sunlight can have five times more quercetin than other reds. Processes like fining and ageing also affect quercetin levels. “It will be potentially very helpful for people who drink red wine to be able to choose wines less likely to cause headaches,” Levin said. “Also, winemakers may use our findings to reduce quercetin in their wines.” 28. In what way are red wine headaches different from those of hangover? A. They come on after a long time. B. They affect wine drinkers equally. C. They occur within a short time. D. They produce different symptoms. 29. What does the underlined word “suppressed” in Paragraph 3 probably mean? A. Blocked. B. Supplied. C. Increased. D. Supported. 30. What is the team going to focus on next? A. The cure for wine headaches. B. The reduction of quercetin. C. The effects of quercetin amount. D. The way to solve hangover. 31. What is the last paragraph mainly about? A. The background of the research. B. The importance of processes. C. The way to produce quercetin. D. The applications of the findings. 【答案】28. C 29. A 30. C 31. D 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了研究人员认为他们已经找到了红酒导致头痛的原因，文章解释了研究开展的经过以及说明导致红酒头痛的原因。 28.细节理解题。根据第二段“Red wine headaches are different from hangover(宿醉)the morning after the night before. Rather than coming on after a long session, they can strike 30 minutes after drinking only one small glass.(红酒头痛不同于前一天早晨的宿醉。红酒头痛不是在长时间饮酒后发作，而是在只喝了一小杯红酒后 30 分钟就会发作)”可知，红酒头痛不同与宿醉头痛的地方在于，红酒头痛是在短时间内发作，故选C。 29.词义猜测题。根据划线词上文“Quercetin(槲皮素), found almost only in red wine, turned out to be particularly effective at blocking the enzyme(酶)that breaks down alcohol. This could be key to solving the mystery.(槲皮素，几乎只在红酒中发现，被证明在阻止分解酒精的酶方面特别有效。这可能是解开谜团的关键)”以及“alcohol builds up in the bloodstream”可知，因为红酒中含有槲皮素，可以阻止分解酒精的酶，所以这种重要的酶被抑制了，酒精在血液中积累。故划线词意思是“抑制”，故选A。 30.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“The team now hopes to find out the effects of red wines with different quercetin levels.(研究小组现在希望找出含有不同槲皮素水平的红酒的效果)”可知，团队下一步的重点是槲皮素用量的影响，故选C。 31.主旨大意题。根据最后一段“Grapes make quercetin in response to sunlight, so grapes grown in plenty of sunlight can have five times more quercetin than other reds. Processes like fining and ageing also affect quercetin levels. “It will be potentially very helpful for people who drink red wine to be able to choose wines less likely to cause headaches,” Levin said. “Also, winemakers may use our findings to reduce quercetin in their wines.”(葡萄在阳光下会产生槲皮素，所以在充足阳光下生长的葡萄所含的槲皮素是其他红葡萄酒的五倍。细化和老化等过程也会影响槲皮素水平。莱文说：“对于喝红酒的人来说，能够选择不太可能引起头痛的葡萄酒是非常有帮助的。”“此外，酿酒师可能会利用我们的发现来减少葡萄酒中的槲皮素。”)”可知，最后一段主要讲研究结果的应用，故选D。 12 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·徐州市·期末统考) C Relatives of starfish, brittle stars(海蛇尾)spend most of their time hiding under rocks in the ocean or digging in the sand. These shy marine creatures have no brain to speak of—just nerve cords running down each of their five wiggly arms, which join to form a nerve ring near their mouth. “There’s no processing center. Each of the nerve cords can act independently. Instead of a boss, it’s like a committee. That seems to be enough to learn by association,” said lead author Julia Notar. This type of leaning involves associating different stimuli via a process called classical conditioning(条件反射). Classical conditioning has been demonstrated in a handful of previous studies in starfish. But brittle stars and similarly brainless starfish have not been tested. To find out if brittle stars have the ability of learning, the researchers put 16 black brittle stars in individual water tanks and used a video camera to record their behavior. Half the brittle stars were trained by dimming the lights for 30 minutes whenever the animals were fed. Every time the lights went out, the researchers would put a bit of shrimp in the tanks, placed just out of reach. The other half got just as much shrimp and also experienced a 30-minute dark period, but never at the same time—the animals were fed under lit conditions. Whether it was light or dark, the animals spent most of their time hiding behind the filters in their tanks, only coming out at mealtime. But only the trained brittle stars learned to associate darkness with food. They didn’t need to smell or taste the shrimp to react. Notar said the results are exciting because classical conditioning hasn’t really been shown definitively in this group of animals before. “Knowing that brittle stars can learn means they’re not just robotic scavengers(清道夫)cleaning up the ocean floor,” Notar said. “They’re potentially able to expect and avoid predators(捕食者)or expect food because they’re learning about their environment.” 28. What is paragraph 1 about? A. The living habits of brittle stars. B. The features of a brainless creature. C. The characteristics of the starfish. D. The definition of classical conditioning. 29. In which aspect were the two groups different in terms of experiment design? A. The hiding time in tanks. B. The change of feeding location. C. The amount of the shrimp. D. Light conditions at mealtime. 30. What does Notar’s research find? A. Brittle stars can be trained to make a connection. B. Brittle stars can clean up the ocean floor. C. Brittle stars’ nerve cords can act independently. D. Brittle stars have a sharp sense of smell. 31. What does the last paragraph indicate? A. Brainless brittle stars can act like robots. B. Brittle stars might keep away from catchers. C. Brittle stars are the only ocean floor cleaners. D. Brittle stars are adaptable to new environment. 【答案】28. B 29. D 30. A 31. B 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了海蛇尾这种动物的特征以及经典条件反射在这种动物身上得到明确的证明的过程。 28.主旨大意题。根据文章第一段“Relatives of starfish, brittle stars(海蛇尾)spend most of their time hiding under rocks in the ocean or digging in the sand. These shy marine creatures have no brain to speak of—just nerve cords running down each of their five wiggly arms, which join to form a nerve ring near their mouth.(海蛇尾是海星的亲戚，它们大部分时间都躲在海洋的岩石下或在沙子里挖洞。这些害羞的海洋生物没有大脑，只有神经索沿着它们弯曲的五只手臂延伸，它们在嘴附近连接起来形成一个神经环)”可知，第一段主要描述了海蛇尾这种无脑生物的特征，故选B。 29.细节理解题。根据文章第四段“Half the brittle stars were trained by dimming the lights for 30 minutes whenever the animals were fed. Every time the lights went out, the researchers would put a bit of shrimp in the tanks, placed just out of reach. The other half got just as much shrimp and also experienced a 30-minute dark period, but never at the same time—the animals were fed under lit conditions.(一半的海蛇尾接受了训练，每次喂食时将灯光调暗30分钟。每次灯光熄灭时，研究人员就会在水箱里放一点虾，放在它们够不着的地方。另一半海蛇尾吃了同样多的虾，也经历了30分钟的黑暗期，但从来没有在同一时间——这些动物是在有光的条件下喂食的)”可知，在实验设计中，两组在喂食时的光线条件方面不同，故选D。 30.细节理解题。根据文章第五段“But only the trained brittle stars learned to associate darkness with food. They didn’t need to smell or taste the shrimp to react.(但只有经过训练的海蛇尾学会了将黑暗与食物联系起来。他们不需要闻或尝虾就能做出反应)”可知，Notar的研究发现海蛇尾可以通过训练建立联系，故选A。 31.推理判断题。根据文章最后一段““They’re potentially able to expect and avoid predators(捕食者)or expect food because they’re learning about their environment.”(“它们有可能预料到并避开捕食者，或者期待食物，因为它们正在了解自己的环境。”)”可推知，海蛇尾可能会远离捕获者，故选B。 13 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·淮安市·期末统考) C By flying in silence, the owl(猫头鹰)holds a deadly advantage over its prey(猎物), which is thought to have no idea of its hunter’s approach until its final moments. Researchers have spent more than 80 years trying to solve the mystery of how owls, unique among birds, slice through the air creating just a whisper of audible(听觉的)disturbance. They hope to make use of the findings to reduce the noise generated by aircraft wings, fans and wind turbine blades(涡轮机叶片). Extensive progress has been made, including developing innovations that have reduced noise from a wind turbine by as much as ten decibels(分贝), the difference between passing car and a passing truck, according to the authors of the study, Justin Jaworski and Nigel Peake. However, in the study, published in the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, they conclude that “the primary barrier to the design of owl-inspired technologies remains the lack of understanding of the essential physics of silent owl flight”. The slight swoosh(嗖)made by an incoming barn owl is below the reach of human hearing until the bird is just under one metre away, laboratory measurements have shown. In 1934, Robert Rule Graham, a British bird enthusiast and pilot, noted three structural aspects of owl wings that may help to explain their quiet approach: an unusual “comb” structure projecting from the wing’s leading edge, a soft layer of downy feathers that covers most of the wing and a ragged fringe(外围)of feathers that line the trailing wing edge. His theory is widely cited(引用). Some researchers found that many larger owl species, such as the barn owl, can continuously track their prey in flight by hearing alone, meaning that any aerodynamic noise does not interfere with their tracking ability. When an aeroplane lands, much of the noise comes not from its engines but from the flow of air rushing around it. The ragged, feathered fringes of the owl’s wings may help to reduce the noise. 28. What is the purpose of the researchers’ study on owls? A. To understand the flying techniques of owls. B. To increase the flying speed of aircraft. C. To help hunters catch their preys with ease. D. To put the secret of owls’ quiet flight to use. 29. The underlined part in paragraph 3 is used to ________. A. compare the noise of cars with that of trucks B. illustrate the great achievements of the research C. show the striking difference between trucks and cars D. explain there is still a long way to go in reducing noise 30. What is the major difficulty in designing owl-inspired technologies? A. Lacking the source of inspiration. B. Limited sense of hearing of human beings. C. Failing to understand how owls fly silently. D. Blindness to the structure of owls’ wings. 31. What can we learn from the last paragraph? A. Owls don’t move their wings when hunting for their prey. B. The flying barn owl can follow their prey just by hearing. C. Much of the plane’s noise comes from its engines when landing. D. The feathered fringes of the owl’s wings generate the flow of air. 【答案】28. D 29. A 30. C 31. B 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了，研究人员花了80多年的时间试图解开猫头鹰是如何在空中沉默飞行的谜团，研究已经取得了广泛的进展，降低飞机飞行时产生的噪音。 28.推理判断题。由第一段“By flying in silence, the owl(猫头鹰)holds a deadly advantage over its prey(猎物), which is thought to have no idea of its hunter’s approach until its final moments.(猫头鹰在沉默中飞行，比猎物拥有致命的优势，而猎物被认为在最后时刻才知道捕食者的接近)”和第二段“Researchers have spent more than 80 years trying to solve the mystery of how owls, unique among birds, slice through the air creating just a whisper of audible(听觉的)disturbance. They hope to make use of the findings to reduce the noise generated by aircraft wings, fans and wind turbine blades(涡轮机叶片).(研究人员花了80多年的时间试图解开猫头鹰是如何在空中飞行的谜团的，猫头鹰是鸟类中独一无二的，它只会产生一种轻微的声音干扰。他们希望利用这些发现来减少机翼、风扇和风力涡轮机叶片产生的噪音)”可知，研究人员花了80多年的时间试图解开猫头鹰是如何在空中沉默飞行的谜团，是为了利用猫头鹰安静飞行的秘密，去减少机翼、风扇和风力涡轮机叶片产生的噪音，故选D项。 29.推理判断题。由第三段“Extensive progress has been made, including developing innovations that have reduced noise from a wind turbine by as much as ten decibels(分贝), the difference between passing car and a passing truck, according to the authors of the study, Justin Jaworski and Nigel Peake.(该研究的作者贾斯汀·贾沃斯基和奈杰尔·皮克表示，已经取得了广泛的进展，包括开发创新技术，将风力涡轮机的噪音降低了10分贝，这是过往汽车和过往卡车之间的差异)”可知，使用开发创新技术能将风力涡轮机的噪音降低10分贝，作者用过往汽车和过往卡车作比较，表明这降低的10分贝，其实是过往卡车产生的噪音和过往汽车产生的噪音之间的差额，可得出划线部分用于比较汽车和卡车的噪音，故选A项。 30.细节理解题。由第四段中“the primary barrier to the design of owl-inspired technologies remains the lack of understanding of the essential physics of silent owl flight(猫头鹰启发技术设计的主要障碍仍然是对猫头鹰无声飞行的基本物理缺乏了解)”可知，设计猫头鹰启发技术的主要困难是不明白猫头鹰是如何安静地飞翔的，故选C项。 31.细节理解题。由最后一段中“Some researchers found that many larger owl species, such as the barn owl, can continuously track their prey in flight by hearing alone, meaning that any aerodynamic noise does not interfere with their tracking ability.(一些研究人员发现，许多体型较大的猫头鹰物种，如仓鸮，可以通过单独的听觉持续跟踪飞行中的猎物，这意味着任何空气动力学噪音都不会干扰它们的跟踪能力)”可知，飞行中的仓鸮只需听觉就可以跟随猎物，故选B项。 14 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市五校联盟·期末联考) C Human innovation(创新)has allowed people to explore space for decades. Within a space station, astronauts have enough air, food and water to complete missions of a year or longer without a resupply. But missions to further reaches of space are a different matter. Establishing a base on the moon or sending humans to Mars seems just on the horizon. That can only happen if innovative and foolproof ways are developed to supply humans with enough air, water and food. One company, Interstellar Labs, has developed an advanced, closed loop system that can grow plants anywhere, even in space. They call their AI managed greenhouses BioPods and they are designed to be very efficient. In fact, Interstellar Labs claims that BioPods reduce the amount of land and water needed to produce food by 99 percent. That is not an impossible claim. BioPods don’t use any soil to grow plants, and the vast majority of water is recycled and recirculated. Plants are grown inside BioPods using aeroponics, the practice of hanging plants in the air and spraying a mist of nutrient-rich water on their roots. By using aeroponics, the BioPod system carefully conserves water with amazing results. According to Interstellar labs, BioPod-grown plants are up to 300 times more productive than traditionally grown plants, using only a small amount of water. The conditions inside of a BioPod are controlled by AI, which can change anything from the lighting to the temperature and humidity to maximize growth. This optimizes(使最优化)growing conditions no matter what the environment is outside, including the emptiness of space. The BioPods themselves can be built in almost any environment, too. The pod’s structure is made with a 3D printer using raw materials in liquid form. The inside part is sealed with an inflatable membrane(充气膜)that is also 3D-printed. This means that a BioPod could be built right on the surface of the moon or Mars, making transporting a large structure unnecessary. Like most technology developed for space exploration, BioPods can also be used on Earth to provide highly efficient food production systems even in the harshest environments. 28. In writing paragraph 1, the author aims to____________. A. propose a definition B. introduce a topic C. make a comparison D. reach a conclusion 29. Which of the following best describes Biopods? A. They are deigned to be used in harsh environments on Earth. B. They are easy to operate without need for soil or water. C. They are highly productive and efficient greenhouses. D. They are widely used for space exploration. 30. Which of the following can be the best title for the text? A. Space Exploration with BioPods B. Growing Food in Space Pods C. Food Consumption in Space Station D. 3D Printers Used in Space Lab 31. What is the writer’s attitude to the BioPod? A. Cautious. B. Indifferent. C. Positive. D. Ambiguous. 【答案】28. B 29. C 30. B 31. C 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了一家公司开发了一种先进的闭环系统BioPods，可以在太空舱里种植植物，为宇航员提供食物。 28.推理判断题。根据第一段“Establishing a base on the moon or sending humans to Mars seems just on the horizon. That can only happen if innovative and foolproof ways are developed to supply humans with enough air, water and food.(在月球上建立基地或将人类送上火星似乎就在眼前。只有开发出创新的、万无一失的方法来为人类提供足够的空气、水和食物，这才有可能实现)”和第二段“One company, Interstellar Labs, has developed an advanced, closed loop system that can grow plants anywhere, even in space.(一家名为星际实验室(Interstellar Labs)的公司开发了一种先进的闭环系统，可以在任何地方种植植物，甚至在太空中)”以及下文对这个系统的介绍，可知第一段是为了引出本文的话题，故选B。 29.细节理解题。根据第二段“They call their AI managed greenhouses BioPods and they are designed to be very efficient.(他们把人工智能管理的温室称为BioPods，它们被设计得非常高效)”和第三段“According to Interstellar labs, BioPod-grown plants are up to 300 times more productive than traditionally grown plants, using only a small amount of water.(根据星际实验室的说法，biopod种植的植物的产量比传统种植的植物高300倍，只需要少量的水)”可知Biopods是高效和高产的温室，故选C。 30.主旨大意题。根据第二段“One company, Interstellar Labs, has developed an advanced, closed loop system that can grow plants anywhere, even in space.(一家公司，星际实验室开发了一种先进的闭环系统，可以在任何地方种植植物，甚至在太空中)”及全文可知，文章主要介绍了一家公司开发了一种先进的闭环系统，可以在太空舱里种植植物，为宇航员提供食物。所以B选项“Growing Food in Space Pods(在太空舱里种植食物)”作为文章标题最为合适，故选B。 31.推理判断题。根据第二段“They call their AI managed greenhouses BioPods and they are designed to be very efficient.(他们把人工智能管理的温室称为BioPods，它们被设计得非常高效)”和第三段“According to Interstellar labs, BioPod-grown plants are up to 300 times more productive than traditionally grown plants, using only a small amount of water.(根据星际实验室的说法，biopod种植的植物的产量比传统种植的植物高300倍，只需要少量的水)”以及最后一段“Like most technology developed for space exploration, BioPods can also be used on Earth to provide highly efficient food production systems even in the harshest environments.(与大多数为太空探索而开发的技术一样，BioPods也可以在地球上使用，即使在最恶劣的环境中也能提供高效的粮食生产系统)”可知BioPods有很多优点，所以作者的态度应该是积极的，故选C。 15 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市多校·期末联考) C(原卷为B篇) Decisions in life are rarely black and white but usually involve shades of gray. At dinner time, the decision you face is not between fasting and eating like a pig, but whether to take that extra spoonful of food. When exams are around the corner, your decision is not between quitting them and studying 24 hours a day, but whether to spend an extra hour reviewing your notes. Economists use the term “marginal changes” to describe minor adjustments to an existing plan of action. In many situations, people make the best decisions by thinking at the margin. Margin means “edge”, so marginal changes are adjustments around the edges of what you are doing. Suppose, for instance, that you ask a friend for advice about how many years to stay in school. If he compares the lifestyle of a person with a Ph. D. to that of a grade school dropout, you might complain that this comparison is not helpful for your decision. You have some education already and most likely are deciding whether to spend an extra year or two in school. To make this decision, you need to know the additional benefits that an extra year in school would offer(higher salaries throughout life and the pure joy of learning)and the additional costs that you would pay(tuition and the forgone salaries while you are in school). By comparing these marginal benefits and marginal costs, you can evaluate whether the extra year is worthwhile. Individuals and firms can make better decisions by thinking at the margin. A rational decision-maker takes action if and only if the marginal benefit of the action exceeds the marginal cost. 28. What does “fasting” underlined in Paragraph 1 mean? A. Eating or drinking a lot. B. Eating little or no food. C. Eating on a regular basis. D. Eating without appetite. 29. Why does the author give an example in Paragraph 2? A. To explain marginal thinking. B. To solve real-life problems. C. To evaluate marginal thinking. D. To encourage adjustments. 30. What can we infer from the text? A. It is unnecessary to make minor adjustments to plans. B. Comparison makes little sense in decision-making. C. People often weigh up benefits and costs of decisions. D. Marginal changes are controversial among individuals. 31. Which of the following can be the best title for the text? A. Marginal Thinking Leads to Better Decisions B. Marginal Benefit Goes beyond Marginal Cost C. Rational Thinkers Exist in All Aspects of Life D. Pleasure Results from Effective Comparison 【答案】28. B 29. A 30. C 31. A 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。本文介绍了边际思维的定义和功能，举例说明了边际思维的意义，即它能帮助人们在日常工作、学习和生活中作出更合理的决定。 28.词义猜测题。由文章第一段“Decisions in life are rarely black and white but usually involve shades of gray. At dinner time, the decision you face is not between fasting and eating like a pig, but whether to take that extra spoonful of food. When exams are around the corner, your decision is not between quitting them and studying 24 hours a day, but whether to spend an extra hour reviewing your notes.(生活中的决定很少是非黑即白的，但通常都是灰色的。在晚餐时间，你面临的决定不是 还是像猪一样吃，而是是否多吃一勺食物。当考试临近时，你的决定不是放弃考试还是24小时学习，而是是否多花一个小时复习笔记)”可推断出，fasting 在此处与eating like a pig意思相反。所以应该是“节食”的意思，故选B项。 29.推理判断题。根据第二段中“Margin means ‘edge’, so marginal changes are adjustments around the edges of what you are doing.(边际意味着‘边缘’，所以边际变化是围绕你正在做的事情的边缘进行的调整)”以及下文的举例“ Suppose, for instance, that you ask a friend for advice about how many years to stay in school. If he compares the lifestyle of a person with a Ph. D. to that of a grade school dropout, you might complain that this comparison is not helpful for your decision. ...(例如，假设你向一个朋友征求关于在学校待多少年的建议。如果他把一个博士的生活方式和一个小学辍学的人的生活方式进行比较，你可能会抱怨这种比较对你的决定没有帮助。……)”可知，举例是为了解释说明边际变化及边际思维，故选A项。 30.推理判断题。根据文章第二段中“By comparing these marginal benefits and marginal costs, you can evaluate whether the extra year is worthwhile.(通过比较这些边际收益和边际成本，你可以评估额外的一年是否值得)”和最后一段“A rational decision-maker takes action if and only if the marginal benefit of the action exceeds the marginal cost.(当且仅当行动的边际收益超过边际成本时，理性决策者才会采取行动)”可知，人们常常会权衡利弊，从而作出更优的选择，故选C项。 31.主旨大意题。分析文章可知，第一段举例说明生活中的边际变化；第二段介绍边际思维的定义及功能；第三段阐述边际思维在实际生活中的应用和意义。再结合文章最后一段“Individuals and firms can make better decisions by thinking at the margin.(个人和公司可以通过边际思维做出更好的决策)”，A项Marginal Thinking Leads to Better Decisions(边际思维带来更好的决策)符合文意，故选A项。 16 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市大丰区新丰中学等五校·期末联考) C In English, a shadow can also be considered a weak form of ourselves. So, when someone is a weaker version of what they used to be, we can say they are a “shadow of their former self”. On the other hand, a person who is “larger than life” casts a big shadow. In this case, the shadow is not from their actual bodies but from their personality and successes. To “cast” in this case means to send something out or forward. Children of successful people often have problems. They “live in the shadow” of their parents and can feel not successful by comparison. We could also say that the successes of the parents “cast a shadow” over the lives of the children. Something else that can cast a shadow is our sins— actions considered to be bad. Here is another expression “old sins cast long shadows”. Think about your shadow on a sunny day. The shadow you cast can be long and far-reaching. The same can be said for our past mistakes and sins. They can reach far into the future. They affect our present-day situation. So, the saving “old sins cast long shadows” means that the wrong things we do early in our lives can have long term effects. And often, the sins of one person comes back to cause them great problems. In one mystery, a jewel thief double-crossed her partner. She kept the jewels they stole together for herself. She changed her name and moved to a quiet English village. She thought she had gotten away with it. But her partner in crime found her... and eventually so did the police. In the end, they were both arrested. When the police came to take the jewel thief away, she said, “How did you find me? My crime was so long ago,” The detective answered, “Old sins cast long shadows.” “Old sins cast long shadows” also can be used in another way. It can be used to talk about other people’s sins and how they affect us. It means that sometimes people suffer from the sins of others. 28. What can we learn from paragraph 2? A. Parents should be more demanding of their children B. Parents should set a successful example for their children. C. The success of children depends on the success of their parents. D. Successful parents should pay attention to protecting their children’s self-confidence. 29. What’s the main idea of paragraph 4? A. Past mistakes influence the present and future. B. Everyone has old sins and mistakes. C. We must avoid making mistakes. D. Other people’s sins may affect us. 30. Which is close to the underlined word “double-crossed” in paragraph 5? A. Committed. B. Cheated. C. Murdered. D. Encouraged. 31. What is the best title for the text? A. The Life in the Shadow B. The Sins Behind the Shadow C. Explore the Formation of Shadow D. Talking About Our Shadow 【答案】28. D 29. A 30. B 31. D 【语篇导读】这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了与shadow相关的英语习语和具体语境中的含义。 28.推理判断题。根据第二段“Children of successful people often have problems. They “live in the shadow” of their parents and can feel not successful by comparison. We could also say that the successes of the parents “cast a shadow” over the lives of the children.(成功人士的孩子往往有问题。他们 “生活在父母的阴影下”，相比之下，他们会觉得自己并不成功。我们也可以说，父母的成功给孩子的生活蒙上了“阴影”)”可知,成功人士的孩子经常把自己和父母的成就相比，认为自己很失败，不自信。由此推断，成功人士作为父母要鼓励孩子，注意保护孩子的自信心，故选D项。 29.主旨大意题。根据第四段“Think about your shadow on a sunny day. The shadow you cast can be long and far-reaching. The same can be said for our past mistakes and sins. They can reach far into the future. They affect our present-day situation. So, the saving “old sins cast long shadows” means that the wrong things we do early in our lives can have long term effects.(想想你在阳光灿烂的日子里的影子。你投下的阴影可能很长很深远。我们过去的错误和罪恶也是如此。它们可以触及遥远的未来。它们影响着我们现在的处境。所以，“旧罪长影”是指我们在生命早期所做的错误的事情会产生长期的影响)”可知，主要讲的是过去的错误对现在和以后造成长远的影响，故选A项。 30.词义猜测题。根据第五段“She kept the jewels they stole together for herself.(她把他们一起偷来的珠宝留给了自己)”和“She thought she had gotten away with it. But her partner in crime found her.( 她以为自己侥幸逃脱了。但她的犯罪同伙找到了她)”判断可知她骗了她的同伴，把一起偷的东西占为己有，由此可知划线词词义为“欺骗”，故选B项。 31.主旨大意题。根据第一段中“In English,a shadow can also be considered a weak form of ourselves.(在英语中，影子也可以被认为是我们自己的软弱形式。所以，当一个人比以前的自己弱了，我们可以说他们是“以前的自己的影子”)”以及后文内容介绍了“shadow of their former self” “live in the shadow” “old sins cast long shadows”等几个关于shadow的习语，对于这个词大家都知道字面意思以外的用法做了介绍。D项意为“浅谈我们的影子”适合做本文题目，故选D项。 17 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城中学·期末校考) C This summer we witnessed interview teams at the North Pole wearing short sleeve shirts due to the warm weather. A study published on Aug 29 revealed more concerning issues in the supposedly coldest area of the world. Zombie ice from a massive Greenland ice sheet was confirmed to be melting, which would eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches(27 centimeters)on its own, reported Associated Press(AP). Zombie ice is the kind of ice that is still attached to thicker areas of ice but is no longer getting fed by larger glaciers. Since glaciers are getting less snow to make up for the amount of ice melted, once the zombie ice is melted, it cannot be re-formed. Scientists decided to look at the balance of the ice. In perfect equilibrium(平衡), snow in the mountains of Greenland flows down and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges, according to AP. But in the last few decades, there is less refill and more melting, creating an imbalance. Study co-author William Colgan at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland told AP that 3.3 percent of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt eventually. “Starying would be a good phrase” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan added. With a great number of natural resources buried under the earth, areas of melted ice revealed treasures that attracted the world’s richest men. According to CNN, in early August, there was a “treasure hunt” in Greenland. Billionaires, including Bill Gates and others, financially backed KoBold Metals, a US-based mineral exploration company, to explore the rare metals under the glaciers in Greenland. The company told CNN that since there were enough minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles, the critical resource is capable of powering the green energy transition. While investors are taking advantage of global warming, experts express their concerns that the mineral exploration is likely to worsen the local environment, running out of the world’s resources at a faster rate. 28. What do we know about zombie ice? A. It’s made up by nearby glaciers. B. It’s independent from large glaciers. C. It will melt away from the ice cap. D. It has increased sea levels by 10 inches. 29. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about? A. Why more zombie ice can’t be created. B. How zombie ice was formed in the past. C. What the melting of zombie ice can lead to. D. How zombie ice functions in the ecosystem. 30. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 imply? A. The ice has brought about starvation. B. The ice is refilled more than before. C. The ice is becoming gradually thinner. D. The ice has been good to skate on. 31. What’s the main purpose of the article? A. To explain a natural phenomenon. B. To comment on the “treasure hunt”. C. To call for environmental protection D. To report on the melting zombie ice. 【答案】28. C 29. A 30. C 31. D 【语篇导读】这是一篇新闻报道(可以视作为说明文)。文章主要报道了格陵兰岛冰原的一块僵尸冰即将从大冰原脱离并融化。 28.细节理解题。根据文章第一段中的“Zombie ice from a massive Greenland ice sheet was confirmed to be melting, which would eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches(27 centimeters)on its own, reported Associated Press(AP).(据美联社报道，来自格陵兰岛巨大冰原的僵尸冰被证实正在融化，这最终将使全球海平面上升至少10英寸(27厘米))”以及第二段第一句话“Zombie ice is the kind of ice that is still attached to thicker areas of ice, but is no longer getting fed by larger glaciers.(僵尸冰是指仍然附着在较厚的冰层上，但不再从较大的冰川中获得营养的冰)”可知，僵尸冰是指仍然附在较厚的冰层上，但不再从较大的冰川中获得营养的冰。由此推知，僵尸冰一旦从较大的冰原中脱离，将会融化，故选C项。 29.主旨大意题。根据文章第三段内容“Scientists decided to look at the balance of the ice. In perfect equilibrium(平衡), snow in the mountains of Greenland flows down and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges, according to AP. But in the last few decades, there is less refill and more melting, creating an imbalance.(科学家决定研究冰的平衡。据美联社报道，在完美平衡的情况下，格陵兰山区的积雪会流下来，使冰川侧面变厚，平衡边缘融化的冰川。但在过去的几十年里，补充量减少，融化量增加，造成了不平衡)”和第二段中“Since glaciers are getting less snow to make up for the amount of ice melted, once the zombie ice is melted, it cannot be re-formed.(由于冰川正在减少积雪来弥补融化的冰量，一旦僵尸冰融化，就无法重新形成)”可知，第二段指出僵尸冰融化，就无法重新形成，接着第三段解释了其原因——积雪留下来，平衡边远融化的冰川，但是在过去的几十年里，补充量减少，融化量增加，所以没有更多的僵尸冰，由此可知，第三段主要介绍了为什么不能制造更多的僵尸冰，故选A项。 30.词义猜测题。根据第四段中划线短语上文“Study co-author William Colgan at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland told AP that 3.3 percent of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt eventually.(研究合著者、丹麦和格陵兰地质调查局的威廉·科尔根(William Colgan)告诉美联社，格陵兰岛总冰量的3.3%最终将融化)”可知，总冰量的 3.3% 最终将融化。由此推知，冰层正在逐渐变薄。划线短语“for what’s happening to the ice,(冰发生的事情)”指的是“僵尸冰融化会导致冰层正在逐渐变薄”，故选C。 31.推理判断题。通读全文，尤其是文章第一段“Zombie ice from a massive Greenland ice sheet was confirmed to be molting, which would eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches(27 centimeters)on its own, reported Associated Press(AP).(据美联社报道，来自格陵兰岛冰原的僵尸冰被证实正在蜕皮，这最终将使全球海平面上升至少10英寸(27厘米))”可知，文章主要报道了格陵兰岛冰原的一块僵尸冰即将从大冰原脱离并融化。由此推知，作者写本文的目的是为了报道僵尸冰的融化，故选D项。 18 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省响水中学·期末校考) C Coral reefs in Florida have lost an estimated 90% of their corals in the last 40 years. This summer, a marine heat wave hit Florida’s coral reefs. The record high temperatures created an extremely stressful environment for the coral reefs, which are currently also experiencing intense coral bleaching(白化). A coral is an animal, which has a symbiotic relationship with a microscopic algae(藻类). The algae gets energy from the sun and shares it with the coral internally. The coral builds a rock-like structure, which makes up most of the reef, providing homes and food for many organisms that live there. Coral bleaching is when the symbiotic relationship breaks down. Without the algae, the corals appear white because the rock skeleton becomes visible. If the bleaching continues for an extended period, the corals can starve to death without the energy. Florida is on the front lines of climate change. It is also on the cutting edge of restoration science. Many labs, institutions and other organizations are working nonstop to protect and maintain the coral reefs. This includes efforts to understand what is troubling the reef, from disease outbreaks to coastal development impacts. It also includes harvesting coral spawn(卵), or growing and planting coral parts. Scientists moved many coral nurseries into deeper water and shore-based facilities during this marine heat wave. They are digging into the DNA of the coral to discover which species will survive best in future. There are some bright spots in the story, however. Some corals have recovered from the bleaching, and many did not bleach at all. In addition, researchers recorded coral spawning. Although it’s not clear yet whether the larvae(幼虫)will be successful in the wild, it’s a sign of recovery potential. If the baby corals survive, they will be able to regrow the reef. They just have to avoid one big boss: human-induced climate change. 28. What does the underlined word “symbiotic” in paragraph 2 mean? A. Reliable. B. Opposite. C. Harmonious. D. Contradictory. 29. What caused the coral bleaching? A. The rock skeleton. B. The microscopic algae. C. The high temperatures. D. The symbiotic relationship. 30. Which is not the efforts scientists made to help coral reefs? A. Transferring coral nurseries. B. Growing and planting coral spawn. C. Researching the DNA of the coral. D. Figuring out the reasons for problems. 31. Which of the following best describes the impact of scientists’ efforts? A. Identifiable. B. Predictable. C. Far-reaching. D. Effective. 【答案】28. A 29. C 30. B 31. D 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了弗罗里达州的珊瑚礁因受高温天气影响而出现白化现象以及专家们为保护珊瑚礁所采取的措施。 28.词义猜测题。根据第二段中划线词所在句的下文“The algae gets energy from the sun and shares it with the coral internally. The coral builds a rock-like structure, which makes up most of the reef, providing homes and food for many organisms that live there.(藻类从太阳获得能量，并在内部与珊瑚分享。珊瑚形成了一个岩石状的结构，构成了大部分的珊瑚礁，为生活在那里的许多生物提供了家园和食物)”可知，珊瑚分享藻类从太阳获得能量，珊瑚礁为生活在那里的许多生物提供了家园和食物；因此，藻类与珊瑚之间是相互依存的共生关系；由此可知，划线词所在句子意为“珊瑚是一种动物，它与一种微小的藻类有共生关系”，因此划线词symbiotic表达的意思是“共生的，相互依赖的”，与reliable表达的意思一致，故选A。 29.细节理解题。根据第一段中“The record high temperatures created an extremely stressful environment for the coral reefs, which are currently also experiencing intense coral bleaching(白化).(创纪录的高温给珊瑚礁创造了一个极其紧张的环境，它们目前也在经历严重的珊瑚白化)”可知，高温引起了珊瑚礁的白化现象，故选C。 30.理解细节题。根据第三段中“Many labs, institutions and other organizations are working nonstop to protect and maintain the coral reefs. This includes efforts to understand what is troubling the reef, from disease outbreaks to coastal development impacts. It also includes harvesting coral spawn(卵), or growing and planting coral parts. Scientists moved many coral nurseries into deeper water and shore-based facilities during this marine heat wave. They are digging into the DNA of the coral to discover which species will survive best in future.(许多实验室、机构和其他组织都在不遗余力地保护和维护珊瑚礁。这包括努力了解是什么在困扰珊瑚礁，从疾病爆发到沿海发展的影响。它还包括收获珊瑚卵，或种植珊瑚枝节。在这次海洋热浪中，科学家们将许多珊瑚苗圃移到了更深的水域和海岸设施中。他们正在深入研究珊瑚的DNA，以发现哪些物种在未来存活得最好)”可知，科学家们在不遗余力地保护和维护珊瑚礁，他们研究困扰珊瑚礁的因素、孵化珊瑚卵、种植珊瑚枝节、高温中把许多珊瑚苗圃移到了更深的水域和海岸设施中以及深入研究珊瑚的DNA以发现未来存活最好的物种；B选项“Growing and planting coral spawn.(种植珊瑚卵)”不是科学家所采取的保护措施，故选B。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段中“There are some bright spots in the story, however. Some corals have recovered from the bleaching, and many did not bleach at all.(然而，这个故事也有一些亮点。一些珊瑚已经从白化中恢复过来，许多珊瑚根本没有白化)”可知,经过科学家的努力，一些珊瑚已经从白化中恢复过来，许多珊瑚根本没有白化；由此可知，科学家们的努力有了成效，故选D。 19 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省阜宁中学·期末校考) C Lots of animals live and move in groups--elephants in herds, wolves in packs, birds in flocks, and fish in schools. Research has shown that where an individual is located in the group can affect the benefits it gets from hanging out in a crowd. However, Shaun Killen, an ecophysiologist at the University of Glasgow in the UK says, researchers haven’t yet fully explored the role of physiological processes such as digestion in driving animals’ collective behavior. Killen and his colleagues recently studied schools of Eurasian minnows(修鱼)swimming in a tank against a current. Pieces of food were constantly moving past the fish, and the team recorded how many each minnow ate and the fishes’ positions before and after eating. After calculating the metabolic(新陈代谢的)costs of digesting each fish’s meal and comparing it to the fish’s position ,the team observed a trend: fish that had just gulped down a big meal moved to the back of the school, even when they’d swum at the front at most other times. “It makes sense that feeding would influence individuals’ positions in a group,” says DamienFarine, who studies collective behavior in birds at the University of Konstanz in Germany, “If a fish is hungry, it’s competing with others in the school to eat, and being at the front gives it access to more food. But once the fish is full, it doesn’t necessarily need to be at the front.” In addition,“being at the back of the group is less energetically costly for a range of reasons,” Farine notes.” An individual at the back doesn’t have to contribute to navigating, and by relaxing the brain load it saves more energy.” Killen says he’s been thinking about the pros and cons of being at the back of the pack, such as protection from attackers and a boost from schoolmates’ slipstream. Changes in position, especially during the basic trade -off between feeding and movement, appear to influence group leadership ,information transfer, and group decision making. But the consequences of the trade-offs for group power and survival are not yet understood. 28. What does Killen and his colleagues’ study focus on? A. How behavioral traits influence position change of individuals in fish schools. B. How location influences nutrition states of individuals in fish schools. C. How digestion influences distribution of individuals in fish schools. D. How location influences benefits of individuals in fish schools. 29. What do the underlined words “gulped down” mean in Paragraph 2? A. Swallowed. B. Located. C. Witnessed. D. Missed. 30. What can we learn from Paragraph3? A. A full fish competes to eat at the back. B. A hungry fish has easier access to more food. C. Being at the back saves the energy of a full fish. D. Being at the front costs a hungry fish less energy. 31. What is Shaun Killen’s attitude to his study? A. Cautious. B. Confident. C. Positive. D. Disappointed. 【答案】28. C 29. A 30. C 31. A 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文，介绍了个体在群体中的位置会影响他所获得的利益这件事。 28.细节理解题。根据第一段的“researchers haven’t yet fully explored the role of physiological processes such as digestion in driving animals’ collective behavior(研究人员还没有完全探索消化等生理过程在驱动动物集体行为中的作用)”和第二段的“Killen and his colleagues recently studied schools of Eurasian minnows swimming in a tank against a current. Pieces of food were constantly moving past the fish, and the team recorded how many each minnow ate and the fishes’ positions before and after eating.(Killen和他的同事们最近研究了成群的欧亚鲦鱼在水箱中逆流而游。食物块不断地从鱼旁边移动，研究团队记录了每条小鱼吃了多少，以及鱼在吃之前和之后的位置)”可知，Killen和他同事的研究重点是消化如何影响鱼群中个体的分布，故选C。 29.词义猜测题。根据第二段的“a big meal(一顿大餐)”可知，鱼是吃下大餐，gulped down意为“吞下，吃下”，和swallowed意思相近，故选A。 30.细节理解题。根据第三段的“But once the fish is full, it doesn’t necessarily need to be at the front.(但一旦鱼吃饱了，它就不一定要在前面了)”和“being at the back of the group is less energetically costly for a range of reasons(由于各种原因，处于群体的后部消耗的能量较少)”可知，在后面可以节省吃饱的鱼的能量，故选C。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段的“Changes in position, especially during the basic trade -off between feeding and movement, appear to influence group leadership ,information transfer, and group decision making. But the consequences of the trade-offs for group power and survival are not yet understood.(位置的变化，尤其是在进食和运动之间的基本权衡过程中，似乎会影响群体领导、信息传递和群体决策。但群体权力和生存之间权衡的后果尚不清楚)”可知，Shaun Killen对他的研究的态度是谨慎的，故选A。 20 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·连云港市·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) Emmanuel Mendoza, a college student, is currently running a study at Texas A&M University, where he’s mixing simulated(模拟的)Martian(火星的)soil and frass(粪便)from fly larvae(幼虫)to find just the right recipe for growing plants on Mars. The seed of this idea was planted when Mendoza was in middle school, watching Ridley Scott’s 2015 film The Martian, in which Mark Watney becomes stuck on the planet and grows potatoes to survive. “That got me really interested in what nutrients or what soil structure Martian soil has that we could potentially take advantage of, ”Mendoza said. Now, he’s running an experiment growing English peas in simulated Martian soil. “I definitely considered potatoes like Mark Watney, ”he said. “But the fact was that I couldn’t necessarily get the data I wanted out of them. ” He wanted to be able to measure plant growth as it occurred throughout his experiment. Since potatoes grow underground, he’d only be able to collect data once they were done growing. In the end, Mendoza chose to grow English peas because they’re self-pollinating(自花传粉), grow fairly quickly and he can see the shoots climb. Martian soil, though it does contain other essential nutrients, isn’t exactly ideal for plants from Earth. It tends to be rocky and lacks the right organic(有机 的)matter. Here’s where the larvae come in. Mendoza turned to the larvae of black soldier flies, which produce a waste known as frass. “They can break down almost any biomatter and turn it into really useful matter, “Mendoza said. “And then you can use the frass as a nutrient alternative to soil.” For this experiment, Mendoza mixed different percentages of simulated Martian soil and frass to see what best supported growing English pea plants. Now, he said he’s seeing growth across all his plants—even the ones growing in 100%simulated Martian soil. 28. Why does the author mention the film The Martian? A. To show Mendoza’s enthusiasm for films. B. To illustrate Mark Watney’s intelligence. C. To prove Mark Watney’s interest in gardening. D. To introduce the origin of Mendoza’s experiment. 29. Why did Mendoza grow English peas instead of potatoes? A. He was unwilling to repeat others’ study. B. English peas grew far faster than potatoes . C. Potatoes needed stricter living conditions. D. It was more convenient to collect the data. 30. What is the function of frass? A. It serves as certain essential nutrients. B. It loosens the soil for plants to grow. C. It makes the soil become quite rocky. D. It helps black soldier flies grow stronger. 31. How does Mendoza feel about his experiment results? A. Doubtful. B. Pleased. C. Intolerant. D. Disappointed. 【答案】28. D 29. D 30. A 31. B 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。主要讲述了大学生Emmanuel Mendoza在德克萨斯农工大学进行的关于在火星上种植植物的实验。 28.推理判断题。根据文章第二段可知“The seed of this idea was planted when Mendoza was in middle school, watching Ridley Scott’s 2015 film The Martian, in which Mark Watney becomes stuck on the planet and grows potatoes to survive. “That got me really interested in what nutrients or what soil structure Martian soil has that we could potentially take advantage of, ”Mendoza said.(这个想法的种子是在Mendoza上中学时种下的，当时他正在观看雷德利·斯科特(Ridley Scott）2015 年的电影《火星救援》，其中马克·沃特尼(Mark Watney）被困在地球上并种植土豆以求生存。“这让我对火星土壤有哪些养分或土壤结构非常感兴趣，我们可以利用这些养分或土壤结构，”Mendoza说)”可知，提到电影《火星救援》是为了介绍Mendoza实验的起源，即他在中学时期观看电影激发了他对火星土壤的兴趣，故选D项。 29.推理判断题。根据文章第四段“He wanted to be able to measure plant growth as it occurred throughout his experiment. Since potatoes grow underground, he’d only be able to collect data once they were done growing. In the end, Mendoza chose to grow English peas because they’re self-pollinating(自花传粉), grow fairly quickly and he can see the shoots climb.(他希望能够在整个实验过程中测量植物的生长情况。由于马铃薯生长在地下，他只有在马铃薯种植完成后才能收集数据。最后，Mendoza选择种植英国豌豆，因为它们是自花授粉的，生长得相当快，他可以看到枝条攀升)”可知，Mendoza选择种植英式豌豆而不是土豆是因为他希望能够在实验过程中不断测量植物的生长情况，而土豆生长在地下，只能在它们生长完成后才能收集数据，而英式豌豆具有自花传粉的特性，生长相对较快，他可以看到豌豆的嫩芽生长，故选D项。 30.推理判断题。根据第五段中“Mendoza turned to the larvae of black soldier flies, which produce a waste known as frass. “They can break down almost any biomatter and turn it into really useful matter, “Mendoza said. “And then you can use the frass as a nutrient alternative to soil.”(Mendoza转向黑水虻的幼虫，它们会产生一种称为frass的废物。“他们几乎可以分解任何生物物质，并将其转化为真正有用的物质，”Mendoza说。然后你可以用碎屑作为土壤的营养替代品)”可知，frass是黑蚁虻幼虫产生的废物，它可以将几乎任何生物质分解并转化为非常有用的物质。因此，frass可以作为土壤的营养替代物，故选A项。 31.推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Now, he said he’s seeing growth across all his plants—even the ones growing in 100%simulated Martian soil.(现在，他说他看到了他所有植物的生长，甚至是那些在100%模拟火星土壤中生长的植物)”可知，Mendoza对自己的实验结果感到高兴，因为他的所有植物都在生长，甚至包括在100%模拟火星土壤中生长的植物，故选B项。 21 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·连云港市·期末统考) C A number of studies have looked at how family life can affect productivity(生产效率)and satisfaction in the workplace, but there has been surprisingly little research on the influence of leisure activities. So Ciara Kelly at Sheffield University and co-workers surveyed 129 hobbyists to look at how the time spent on their hobbies shaped their work life. To begin with, the team measured the seriousness of each participant’s hobby, asking them to rate their agreement with statements like ”I regularly train for this activity“, and also assessed how similar the demands of their job and hobby were. Then, each month for seven months, participants recorded how many hours they had devoted to their activity, and completed a scale measuring their belief in their ability to effectively do their job, or their “self-efficacy”(自我效能). They also completed a scale measuring their resilience(适应力)at work. The researchers found that when participants spent longer than normal doing their leisure activity, their belief in their ability to perform their job increased. But this was only the case when they had a serious hobby that was dissimilar to their job, or when their hobby was similar to their work but they only did it occasionally. When their hobby was both serious and similar to their job, then spending more time on it actually had a detrimental effect, decreasing their self-efficacy. Why might that be? To maintain a serious hobby, people need to invest significant psychological resources—so if the activity has the same kinds of demands as their work, they may be left tired and unable to perform as well at their job. But if their hobby is quite different from their career, it may not interfere(干预)in the same way but instead help them develop other knowledge and skills that can boost their confidence at work. Still, the results suggest that companies may want to encourage employees to develop interests outside of work, as long as those activities differ from their day-to-day tasks. 28. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about? A. The methods of assessment. B. The completion of scales. C. The causes of self-efficacy. D. The process of Kelly’s survey. 29. What does the underlined word ”detrimental“ in Paragraph 4 mean? A. Useful. B. Harmful. C. Productive D. Positive. 30. Kelly’s study found that people’s productivity can increase if ________. A. their hobbies differ much from their work routine B. their hobbies have the same demands as their work C. they assume that they can gain skills from their jobs D. they believe that they can perform better in their work 31. What can be a suitable title for the text? A. Boss: Allow your staff to relax more B. Employee: Devote more time to work C. Boss: Offer your staff more leisure activities D. Employee: Develop hobbies dissimilar to jobs 【答案】28. D 29. B 30. A 31. D 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。本文主要介绍了业余爱好对工作生活的影响，并提出相关建议。 28.主旨大意题。根据文章第二段“So Ciara Kelly at Sheffield University and co-workers surveyed 129 hobbyists to look at how the time spent on their hobbies shaped their work life. To begin with, the team measured the seriousness of each participant’s hobby, asking them to rate their agreement with statements like ”I regularly train for this activity“, and also assessed how similar the demands of their job and hobby were. Then, each month for seven months, participants recorded how many hours they had devoted to their activity, and completed a scale measuring their belief in their ability to effectively do their job, or their “self-efficacy”(自我效能). They also completed a scale measuring their resilience(适应力)at work.(因此，谢菲尔德大学的席亚拉·凯利(Ciara Kelly）及其同事对129名业余爱好者进行了调查，以了解花在爱好上的时间如何影响他们的工作生活。首先，该团队衡量了每个参与者爱好的严重性，要求他们对“我经常为这项活动进行训练”等陈述的同意程度进行评分，并评估了他们的工作和爱好需求的相似程度。然后，在七个月的每个月，参与者记录他们在活动上投入了多少小时，并完成一个量表，衡量他们对自己有效完成工作的能力的信念，或者他们的“自我效能”。他们还完成了衡量他们在工作中的适应力的量表)”可知，第二段主要讲述了Kelly的调查过程，故选D项。 29.词义猜测题。根据文章第三段中“When their hobby was both serious and similar to their job, then spending more time on it actually had a detrimental effect, decreasing their self-efficacy.(当他们的爱好既严肃又与他们的工作相似时，花更多的时间实际上会产生detrimental影响，降低他们的自我效能感)”可知，当爱好既严肃又与工作相似时，会降低自我效能感，即会有消极有害的影响，推测划线单词detrimental意为“不利的，有害的”，故选B项。 30.推理判断题。根据文章第三段中“The researchers found that when participants spent longer than normal doing their leisure activity, their belief in their ability to perform their job increased. But this was only the case when they had a serious hobby that was dissimilar to their job, or when their hobby was similar to their work but they only did it occasionally.(研究人员发现，当参与者花比平时更长的时间进行休闲活动时，他们对自己完成工作能力的信念就会增加。但只有当他们有一个与工作不同的严肃爱好时，或者当他们的爱好与他们的工作相似但他们只是偶尔这样做时，才会出现这种情况)”可知，人们的爱好和日常工作有很大不同时，他们的生产力可以提高，故选A项。 31.主旨大意题。根据文章最后一段“Still, the results suggest that companies may want to encourage employees to develop interests outside of work, as long as those activities differ from their day-to-day tasks.(尽管如此，研究结果表明，公司可能希望鼓励员工在工作之外发展兴趣，只要这些活动与他们的日常任务不同)”以及文章内容可知，本文主要介绍了业余爱好对工作生活的影响，并提出相关建议：员工要培养与工作不同的爱好，所以“员工：培养与工作不同的爱好”适合作为文章标题，故选D项。 22 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·苏州市·期末统考) C My family has a new toy. At every gathering, a Mata Quest 2 virtual reality headset is now carefully unpacked and passed around. The metaverse(元宇宙)that the headsets access sounds like an appealing place. Create your own form, move between worlds and beyond the limitations of reality — what could be better? Yet the headsets are still massive and the apps cartoonist. Even the game my family loves best shows that perfect interaction with the real world and realistic pictures are still years away. After an hour, not even my nephews want to play anymore. Yet this observation runs counter to the steady drumbeat of warnings that have emerged about virtual life over the past year. When Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen spoke out against her employer, addiction to the metaverse was one of the things she claims to be most worried about. Immersive environments would encourage users to disconnect from reality altogether, she said. You can see why product managers like Haugen might worry. Many of us lost the battle against limiting our Internet use long ago. Tech addiction has tricked our brains into habits that ensure our overconsumption of tech products. For instance, our addiction to checking and rechecking our messaging apps. Or looking out for email notifications(通知). On this point, I agree. I’m guilty of both. I turned my own screentime reminders off months ago. Simply knowing how much time I was spending on my phone didn’t seem to be having any effect on my habits. In lockdowns, spending hours at a time on the Internet became normalized. Yet this does not mean we are all on the edge of spending hours and hours in the metaverse. In the four years I have spent testing out virtual and augmented(强化的)headsets, I have yet to try one that feels comfortable. “Like tying a brick to your forehead,” as one friend put it. It is possible to buy upgraded head bands that attempt to redistribute the weight, but even so the sets still remain heavy. 28. How did the attitude of the author’s family change towards playing VR games? A. From being absorbed to bored. B. From being confused to confident. C. From being curious to excited. D. From being casual to interested. 29. In paragraph 2, what does the underlined phrase “run counter to” mean? A. Confirm. B. Challenge. C. Repeat. D. Ignore. 30. What does the underlined word “both” refer to? ① minimizing online use. ② checking messaging apps repeatedly. ③ being addicted to email notifications. ④ silencing the screen-time reminders. A. ①② B. ②③ C. ③④ D. ①④ 31. What might stop people from spending too much time on the metaverse? A. The addiction to virtual reality. B. The anxiety caused by lockdowns. C. The heaviness of virtual reality headsets. D. The cost involved with buying tech products. 【答案】28. A 29. B 30. B 31. C 【语篇导读】本文是夹叙夹议文(说明的部分较多)。本文探讨了虚拟现实(VR）和元宇宙(Metaverse）的潜在问题，特别是关于过度使用和成瘾的问题。 28.推理判断题。根据第一段“My family has a new toy. At every gathering, a Mata Quest 2 virtual reality headset is now carefully unpacked and passed around. The metaverse(元宇宙)that the headsets access sounds like an appealing place. Create your own form, move between worlds and beyond the limitations of reality — what could be better? Yet the headsets are still massive and the apps cartoonist. Even the game my family loves best shows that perfect interaction with the real world and realistic pictures are still years away. After an hour, not even my nephews want to play anymore.(我家有一个新玩具。在每次聚会上，一个Mata Quest 2虚拟现实耳机现在都被小心地打开并传递。耳机所能进入的虚拟世界听起来是个吸引人的地方。创造你自己的形式，在世界之间移动，超越现实的限制——还有什么比这更好的呢?然而，头戴式设备仍然庞大，而应用程序仍然是漫画家。即使是我的家人最喜欢的游戏也表明，与现实世界的完美互动和逼真的画面还需要几年的时间。一个小时后，连我的侄子都不想玩了)”可知，作者的家人对玩VR游戏的态度是从全神贯注到无聊，故选A项。 29.词义猜测题。根据后文“When Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen spoke out against her employer, addiction to the met$$ 专题02 阅读理解（说明文&议论文）（江苏专用） 01 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市江宁区·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) In early December, the US broke a terrible new record:38mass shootings in a single year, in which 203 people have died. This beat the previous record of 36 mass shootings, according to The Guardian. But why is there so much gun violence in the US? Although the issue is complicated, there are three big reasons: too many guns, weak gun laws and loopholes(漏洞), and cultural factors. The US has a lot of guns –120.5guns for every 100 Americans, according to a 2017 survey. In other words, there are more guns than people in the US. This makes it easier for people to get guns. Although US federal law says certain people can’t buy guns, it’s still fairly easy for Americans to buy them anyway, said Vox. A big part of this is loopholes in gun sales. In the US, when you buy a gun from a licensed shop or at a gun show, they have to check your background. But if you buy from a private seller, they don’t have to do that. Even in those cases where a background check is made, it can only take up to three days at most. If the seller does not receive a clear answer within three days, the seller can still sell the gun, reported CGTN. The US also has a unique gun culture, influenced by the Second Amendment(第二修正案)of the US Constitution. Some people believe it gives them special rights, making them refuse to give up their guns for the greater good. Despite these challenges, around 60 percent of Americans think gun violence is a big problem and want stricter gun laws, a 2022 Pew Research Center study said. But it’s unclear if US lawmakers, who listen to powerful gun groups like the National Rifle Association or Gun Owners of America, will make changes. 28. What are the main reasons for increasing gun violence in the US? a. the high ownership of guns         b. the weak laws on buying guns c. the light punishment on gun violence         d. the right to have guns in the minds of Americans A. abc B. abd C. acd D. bcd 29. Those who are not allowed to have guns ________. A. won’t have any chance to buy guns B. can purchase guns with a special license C. can purchase guns from private sellers D. can buy guns by showing their background 30. In the writer’s opinion, to keep gun violence under control in the US is ________. A. meaningless B. costly C. tough D. possible 31. What’s the structure of the story? A. B. C. D. 02 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市江宁区·期末统考) C TVB’s 56th-anniversary show, The Queen of News, has become popular across the country. It stars actors Charmaine Sheh and Kenneth Ma . People enjoy talking about its plot and copying its pointed lines. The show got 8.2 points out of 10 on the review website Douban. Telling the stories of news reporters competing for the top spot during golden time, some said, the show was a bit over the top. But the fantastic plot where the main character overcomes challenges on the way to success is loved by many. The Queen of News is a so-called “feel-good drama”, a type of drama that has become more and more popular in recent years. But why do people enjoy such dramas so much? One of the reasons is that the plots in these shows are easy to follow. They often tell stories where the main character goes from facing difficulties to seeking revenge(复仇)and, in the end, earning respect and success. This kind of show allows people to forget about their worries and challenges in life and feel happy while watching them. Han Ning, a psychological counselor who works in Nanjing, told the Yangtze Evening Post that feel-good dramas can help with mental health . These shows can meet the emotional needs of the audience. They also help people lower their anxiety and stress levels. However, some people worry that feel-good dramas may lead people to look at life in an unrealistic way. If people look too deeply into these big personality changes of characters and the excitement of the story, it may affect how they think they should live their lives, noted Guangming Daily. The newspaper added that these dramas should cut out the over-the-top parts that are larger-than-life. 28. Which word is closest in meaning to “over the top” in Paragraph 2? A. sharp. B. dramatic. C. competitive. D. unrealistic. 29. What do we know about “feel-good dramas”? A. Their plots are close to real life. B. Their plots are easy to follow. C. They star the most popular idols. D. They usually get high points on Douban. 30. Why are “feel-good dramas” popular according to Han Ning? A. Because they help the audience release stress. B. Because they come from and are used in life. C. Because they teach useful life lessons. D. Because they let the audience feel respected. 31. What idea might Guangming Daily agree with? A. People shouldn’t watch “feel-good dramas”. B. The dramas should promote more realistic views. C. We should closely watch the qualities of the dramas. D. It’s good to watch “feel-good dramas” sometimes. 03 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市六校联合体·期末联考) C Here is a situation: you and a new acquaintance(相识的人)are having a conversation. The conversation has a pleasant atmosphere. You leave, satisfied. Hours later, a thought appears. “Ugh, I really shouldn’t have said that.” You can’t stop replaying the conversation over and over, picking out moments when you sounded like a babbling(胡言乱语的)baby. You finally conclude that you’re a fool who doesn’t know how to communicate. What you’ve experienced is the liking gap, a theory that explains that people commonly underestimate how well they’re liked after communicating with another person. Researchers published the first study on it just a few years ago in Psychological Science. To find and demonstrate the liking gap, the researchers looked at several scenes where people were just getting to know each other: as strangers got acquainted in a lab, as freshmen got to know their roommates, and as strangers got to know each other in a workshop. In each scene, researchers asked each person how much they liked the person they talked with, and how much they thought their conversation partner liked them. Across the board, people rated their “perceived liking” lower than they were actually liked. The liking gap usually exists between newly acquainted people, but researchers say it also exists between friends who haven’t communicated with each other for a long time. The liking gap exists because we can’t ask people how much they like us after a conversation. We have to run back over the conversation and reevaluate everything we said, wondering how it sounded to a stranger. Those guesses are often influenced by an inner talk that’s rather negative.  As the researchers learned, people underestimate how well-liked they are, even in situations where the person they’re talking with gives signals(smiles or hand gestures)that they like the conversation. Because we are too absorbed in thinking about what we’re saying and how it sounds to notice those signals, the liking gap still exists. The liking gap is important for us to understand the influence we have on other people. People like us more than we realize, which in turn means we have more influence than we realize. One comfort is that, in the case of the college roommates, researchers found that the liking gap narrowed with time. While you may feel stupid around new people or just people you haven’t contacted for years, it is scientifically demonstrated that the feeling won’t continue. As you get to know someone better and feel more confident in your communication with them, the gap gets smaller. 28. How do you feel at last in Paragraph 1? A. Satisfied. B. Regretful. C. Surprised. D. Cheerful. 29. How did the researchers prove the existence of the liking gap? A. By comparing people’s answers. B. By observing people’s expressions. C. By researching the content of the talks. D. By judging the views people expressed in the talks. 30. Why does the liking gap continue to exist even though positive signals are given? A. Because we are interested in the words. B. Because we pay much more attention to ourselves. C. Because our inner talks disagree with those positive signals. D. Because our conversation partners give those signals out of politeness. 31. What can we infer about the liking gap according to the passage? A. It makes people feel stupid all the time. B. It reduces people’s influence on others. C. It lets people underestimate their influence. D. It leads to less communication among people. 04 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·无锡市·期末统考) C A virtual reality headset has restored(修复)sight to people who are legally blind. While it didn’t cure the physical cause of their blindness, the device let people with severe macular degeneration(黄斑退化)go on with activities like reading and gardening — tasks they previously found impossible. Macular degeneration is a common, age-related condition. It affects many people worldwide. It leaves people with a blind spot in the centre of their vision and causes legal blindness. The new system, called Iris Vision, uses VR headset to make the most of peripheral vision(周边视觉). It records the person’s surroundings and displays them in real time, and the user can widen the image as many times as they need for their peripheral vision to become clear. Doing so also helps to effectively reduce or remove their blind spot. In a trial,30 people used the system for two weeks, filling out questionnaires on their ability to complete daily activities before and after the period. “They can do things that for years were not even a consideration,” says David Rhew at Samsung Electronics America. According to Rhew, the vision of participants was all but restored with the headset. “The baseline rate of vision in the individuals came in at 20/400, which is legally blind, and with the use of this technology it improved to 20/30, which is pretty close to 20/20 vision,” he says. Tom Peterson has serious macular degeneration. When he first started using the device, “It was an emotional experience. I sensed that I could see again and tears started coming,” he says. The results were presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology(眼科学)annual meeting. The headset is now being used in 80 ophthalmology centres around the US, and the next step is to adapt the software to work for other vision disorders. Some have commented that it is heavy for long periods of use. “Many people with macular degeneration regularly use eight to ten different tools, such as telescopes and magnifying glasses, to help them with daily life, but Iris Vision can replace them all,” says Perski. 28. What may lead to legal blindness? A. Too much reading. B. A blind spot. C. Increasing ages. D. Macular degeneration. 29. Why is Tom Peterson mentioned in paragraph 3? A. To explain the process of the trial. B. To show the problems with the trial. C. To prove the effectiveness of Iris Vision. D. To promote the new product of Iris Vision. 30. What attitude does Perski hold towards Iris Vision? A. Objective. B. Negative. C. Supportive. D. Critical. 31. What’s the best title of the text? A. A VR headset —new ways to cure blindness B. A VR headset —good news for blind people C. Macular degeneration —a deadly eye disease D. Macular degeneration — an important body organ 05 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·常州市·期末统考) C Recent headlines claimed that regular napping(打盹)can build a bigger brain and slow neural(神经的)aging. The research was published in the journal Sleep Health. To explore whether napping is beneficial to brain health over the long term, the study authors made use of UK Biobank,a database of in-depth genetic and health information from half a million residents of the United Kingdom. Thanks to the data in the UK Biobank, they were able to link numerous gene variants(变体)to a greater likelihood of napping in 378,932 subjects(all of whom were aged 40 to 69). The likelihood of napping was measured based on how subjects replied to the question, “Do you have a nap during the day?” The options were“never or rarely,” “sometimes,” and “usually.” When it comes to napping, two key variables(变量)that can influence data greatly are age and sickness. Older and sicker people tend to nap more often and for longer because they easily get tired. The researchers found that the people with the gene variants linked to napping had slightly larger brains than people without those gene variants, about 1.3% larger. That might sound small, but the authors of the study noted that it can be quite significant. “Our finding of a larger total brain volume in those who usually nap is nearly equal to 2.6 to 6.5 years of difference in aging,” they wrote. “In addition, this difference roughly equals to the difference in brain volume between people with normal cognitive(认知的)function and mild cognitive impairment.” Professor Tara Spires-Jones, President of the British Neuroscience Association, said that the study was well-conducted, but had remarkable limitations. “The napping habits of UK Biobank participants were self-reported, which might not be entirely accurate, and the ‘napping’ signature overlapped(重叠)greatly with the signature for cognitive outcomes in the study, which makes the causal(因果关系的)link weaker.” Additionally, as the brain is easily the most important organ in the body, it’s quite possible that people with larger brains simply need to nap more, rather than napping actually increasing their brain size. So don’t look to napping as an ideal way to buff up your brain. 28. What’s the major finding of the research? A. Regular napping does good to human brain. B. Age and sickness has little to do with napping. C. People with napping gene get tired more easily. D. Napping people can live 2.6 to 6.5 years longer. 29. Which of the following research methods might be used in the research process? A. Logic reasoning. B. Unplanned sampling. C. Data analysis. D. Doing Experiments. 30. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “impairment”? A. damage B. recovery C. understanding D. development 31. Which of the following statements might Professor Tara Spires-Hones agree with? A. The research result is acceptable. B. Napping boosts people’s brain size. C. The study shouldn’t have used UK Biobank. D. Napping doesn’t matter much to people’s brain. 06 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省常州高级中学·期末考试) C(原卷为B篇) One of the biggest concerns about today’s tech giants is their market power. In many countries, Google, Facebook, and Amazon dominate online search, social media, and online retail respectively. And yet economists have largely failed to address these concerns in a proper way. To help regulators as they struggle to address this market concentration, we must make economics itself more relevant to the digital age. Digital markets often become highly concentrated, with one dominant firm, because larger players enjoy significant returns. For example, data generation plays a self reinforcing(自我强化的)rule; more data improves the service, which brings more users, and then generates more data. As several recent reports have pointed out, the digital economy poses a problem for competition policy. Competition is vital for boosting productivity and long term growth, because it drives out inefficient producers and encourages innovation. Yet how can this happen when there are such dominant players? Today’s digital giants provide services that people want: one recent study estimated that consumers value online search alone at a level which is equal to about half of media income. Rather than assessing likely short-term trends in specific digital markets, they need to be able to estimate the potential long-term costs. This is no easy task, because there is no standard methodology(方法)for estimating uncertain futures. Economists ever disagree on how to measure static consumer valuations of free digital goods such as online search and social media. And although the idea that competition operates dynamically through firms entering and exiting the market dates back at least to Joseph Schumpeter, the standard approach is still to look at competition among similar companies producing similar goods at a point in time. The characteristics of digital technology pose a great challenge to the entire discipline. As I pointed out more than 20 years ago, the digital economy is “weightless”. Moreover, many digital goods are non-rival “public goods”. You can use software code without stopping others from doing so, whereas only one person can wear the same pair of shoes. 28. What makes the regulators worry about the tech giants? A. Market dominance. B. Market profits. C. Digital high-tech. D. Economic stability. 29. How does a digital platform get profits? A. By enlarging the platform. B. By collecting more data. C. By avoiding network effects. D. By encouraging innovation. 30. What causes the difficulty in estimating a digital company? ①Lack of standard methodology.      ②Disagreements among economists. ③Innovation from producers.         ④Use of digital products at the same time. A. ①②③ B. ②③④ C. ①③④ D. ①②④ 31. Where does the passage probably come from? A. A business magazine. B. A science report. C. A marketing guide. D. An IT textbook. 07 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省常州高级中学·期末考试) C It is reported that the sense of smell plays a dominant role in the social interactions of all land animals except humans. Then the question arises: Is this because humans don’t use their noses in social settings the way all other land animals do? Or is this behavior covert(隐蔽的), rather than overt, in humans? In fact, this is exactly what Inbal Ravreby, a graduate student in Prof. Noam Sobel’s laboratory in Weizmann’s Brain Sciences Department, tried to answer. And as several lines of evidence suggest that humans are constantly, although mostly subconsciously, sniffing themselves and others, Ravreby supposed that the latter is the case. To test her hypothesis, Ravreby conducted the study with pairs of click friends: same-sex nonromantic friends whose friendships had originally formed very rapidly. Because such friendships emerge prior to an in-depth acquaintance, they may be particularly influenced by physiological characteristics such as body smell. She then collected body smell samples from these click friends and conducted two sets of experiments to compare the samples with those collected from random pairs of individuals. In one set of experiments, she performed the comparison with a device known as an electronic nose, or eNose, which assessed the chemical signatures of the smells. In the other, she asked volunteers to smell the two groups of body smell samples in order to assess similarities measured by human perception. In both types of experiments, click friends were found to smell significantly more like each other than the individuals in the random pairs. Next, to rule out the possibility that body smell similarity was a consequence of click friendships, rather than a contributing cause, Ravreby performed an additional set of experiments, in which she used the eNose to “smell” a number of volunteers who were complete strangers to one another, and then asked them to engage in nonverbal(非言语的)social interactions in pairs. After each such structured interaction, the participants rated the other individual in terms of how much they liked that person. Subsequent analysis revealed that the individuals who had more positive interactions indeed smelled more like each other, as determined by the eNose. “These results imply that, as the saying goes, there is chemistry in social chemistry,” Ravreby concludes. However, Sobel offers words of caution, “This is not to say that we act like dogs or goats — humans likely rely on other, far more dominant signals in their social decision-making. Nevertheless, our study’s results do suggest that our nose plays a bigger role than previously thought in our choice of friends.” 28. What did Inbal Ravreby want to figure out? A. Whether humans have a sharp sense of smell. B. Whether humans’ noses can detect all types of smells. C. Whether it is necessary for humans to sniff other people. D. Whether the sense of smell plays a role in humans’ interaction. 29. What makes the first two sets of experiments different from each other? A. The way to make comparisons. B. The participation of random pairs. C. The way volunteers used the eNose. D. The number of pairs of click friends. 30. Why did Ravreby involve complete strangers in the following experiments? A. To determine the reliability of the finding. B. To avoid interactions between click friends. C. To make the experiments much more interesting. D. To test the accuracy of the eNose in smell analysis. 31. What is Sobel’s attitude towards the research finding? A. Disapproving. B. Doubtful. C. Positive. D. Indifferent. 08 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南通海安市·期末统考) C Sports movies are fun, but have you ever watched a sports movie that doesn’t even seem like it’s about sports? Let me give you an option, “Remember The Titans”. A high school football team is forced to integrate, bringing together players from different racial backgrounds. Coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, takes charge and helps the team overcome their differences and work together. Amidst challenges and resistance, the players learn to respect and support each other. Through hard work and determination, they become a united team, overcoming prejudice and achieving success on the field. At the beginning of the movie, a white person murders a black person and there’s a riot(骚乱)going on. Debatable as it is, to be honest, we rarely get to see movies like Remember The Titans now. This is a movie that shows hard work and love can triumph over anything in life and we can feel the actual potential of the human spirit and courage. What makes Remember The Titans an instant classic? It is part heartwarming drama, part true story, part action, all of this is mixed with a banger soundtrack. This is the kind of film that actually transcends all genres, which is not very common today. When was the last time you came across such a movie that impressed you so deeply? Considering the actual script of the movie, it was an impossible task to actually release the movie. No one was willing to publish the movie. The movie’s writer Gregory Allen Howard was refused from every movie house because of the race issue highlighted in the movie. Through lots of struggles, the movie was adapted by Disney, even though it was toned down to make it more “Family-Friendly”. I have seen a lot of movies till now, can’t even begin to count them but there are some movies that take your emotions on a roller coaster. They are more than movies actually, you become a part of them as they become a part of you. Remember the Titans is that kind of movie and I believe that every viewer can learn some life-changing things from it. 28. What do the viewers think of the start of the movie? A. It causes different opinions. B. It is a part of failure. C. It is the most appealing part. D. It lays the foundation for success. 29. Which of the following statements about the movie is right? A. Denzel Washington is a persuasive coach. B. The purpose of it is to protest the violence. C. The twisted plot is attractive to the viewers. D. It’s released effortlessly at the very beginning. 30. What does the underlined phrase “was toned down” in paragraph 4 mean? A. was tolerated unwillingly B. was accepted sincerely C. was criticized aggressively D. was made less offensive 31. What may the following paragraphs tell us? A. The reasons for the movie’s popularity. B. The specific lessons the movie conveys. C. The introduction to Denzel Washington. D. The main plot and characters of the movie. 09 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·泰州市·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) Around 40 million tonnes of electronic waste, known as e-waste, is produced every year. This includes electrical or electronic equipment that has been discarded. But where does it all go? In the US alone, 100 million mobile phones, 41 million computers and over 20 million televisions are thrown into landfills in a year. Even for standard waste this is a big headache, because any materials that are buried in the ground can’t be easily recovered and recycled. Recycling electronics can save energy and means that less of Earth’s natural resources need to be mined. Failing to recycle e-waste is extremely damaging the environment due to the nature of the materials used in modern devices. While heavy metals and chemicals improve a device’s safety and user experience, these components become poisonous if they’re not dealt with properly. Your old phones, Gameboys, kettles, microwaves and more can end up in landfills, leaking their harmful contents into the soil, water and air. Not only does this kill wildlife and destroy ecosystems, but the accumulation of poison can impact human health too. As heavy metals and chemicals flow into lakes and rivers, drinking water becomes polluted. These poisons spread through the soil, impacting the health of crops and animals that people also rely on. In some western countries, e-waste isn’t hidden out of sight in landfills but is burnt in giant, open junkyards. They even ship waste electronics to other countries to deal with, and this often ends up in dumps across Africa and Asia. Workers in these places are exposed to polluted lands and chemical gas. It is urgent that we should reduce the damaging and unsustainable side of e-waste production. Rare earth metals, some plastics and chemicals can be fed into the next generation of electronics. The steps to proper recycling of e-waste are extensive and need large investment, but more and more countries around the world are turning to e-waste recycling. 28. What does the underlined word “discarded” in Paragraph 1 mean? A. Repaired. B. Protected. C. Used. D. Abandoned. 29. What can be learned from Paragraph 2? A. E-waste has a permanent effect on the environment. B. E-waste may do harm to both ecosystems and humans. C. Heavy metals and chemicals are poisonous to the users. D. Burying e-waste into landfills is an effective way to recycle. 30. As for some western countries’ actions, the author is ________. A. supportive B. objective C. concerned D. uncertain 31. What might the author continue to talk about? A. Solutions to destroying e-waste. B. Ways to recycle e-waste properly. C. Applications of recycled materials. D. Investments in restoring ecosystems. 10 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·扬州市·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) Generally speaking, the single most important thing you can do to keep your computer safe is make sure your operating system and apps are up-to-date. Because though it looks like nothing has changed afterwards, below the surface every update is fixing bugs and holes that can be taken advantage of by hackers. Modern computer systems are so wildly complicated that it is basically impossible for developers to build a completely secure system. However much you test and try, hackers and people with bad intentions will comb through and look for a bug or a hole they can use to access your private data. The most simple attack is a Bruteforce attack of simply going through and trying every single combination of letters and numbers to, for example, guess a password. This is why you can only get the passcode on your phone wrong three times before it locks up. Phishing isn’t so much clever technology, but is a psychological trick to persuade you to hand over your details. If you browse a website that has http and not https, and you’re on a public WiFi, anyone on the same network could read every word being sent to your phone or computer. This is called A Man In The Middle attack. Finally there is Malware. This is software through which hackers can run their own code on your computer, then they can do whatever they like. This used to be a really, really bad problem. But today, both Windows and Mac are more locked down than they used to be. So though the threat of hackers is real and scary, the good news is that the good guys are getting better at fighting them. But that doesn’t mean we should be contented. The best way to keep your data safe is to remain careful where you click. And, of course, make sure all of your apps are up-to-date, so they have all of the latest safeguards to keep you safe. 28. What happens after your operating system and apps are updated? A. Nothing happens to them. B. They become locked up. C. Data in them are stolen. D. Bugs and holes are fixed. 29. Why does your phone lock up after three incorrect passcode entries? A. To keep other people from working out the passcode. B. To prevent you from falling for a psychological trick. C. To pick up the information being sent to other devices. D. To stop hackers from installing software on your phone. 30. How many means of attack are mentioned in Paragraph 2? A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five. 31. What is the purpose of the passage? A. To inform people of different approaches to hacking the Internet. B. To remind people of the significance of updating apps and systems. C. To appeal to developers to build an entirely secure computer system. D. To blame hackers and those who have the intention to do damage. 11 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·扬州市·期末统考) C For the Greek philosopher Celsus, red wine could be used to treat endless diseases, from tiredness to fever and coughs. But despite its convenient healing powers, the grape, he told his faithful readers, could bring about headaches. Now, researchers believe they have found the reason why red wine causes such headaches. “We think we are finally on the right track toward explaining this old mystery,” said Morris Levin, the director of the Headache Center at the University of California, San Francisco. “The next step is to test it scientifically on people who develop these headaches.” Red wine headaches are different from hangover(宿醉)the morning after the night before. Rather than coming on after a long session, they can strike 30 minutes after drinking only one small glass. The researchers ran lab tests on more than a dozen chemicals in red wine. One stood out. Quercetin(槲皮素), found almost only in red wine, turned out to be particularly effective at blocking the enzyme(酶)that breaks down alcohol. This could be key to solving the mystery. With the important enzyme suppressed, alcohol builds up in the bloodstream. At high levels, this causes headaches, red faces and sweating. According to the researchers, when some people drink red wine with even small amounts of quercetin they can develop a headache. Why some are more affected than others is unclear. The team now hopes to find out the effects of red wines with different quercetin levels. Grapes make quercetin in response to sunlight, so grapes grown in plenty of sunlight can have five times more quercetin than other reds. Processes like fining and ageing also affect quercetin levels. “It will be potentially very helpful for people who drink red wine to be able to choose wines less likely to cause headaches,” Levin said. “Also, winemakers may use our findings to reduce quercetin in their wines.” 28. In what way are red wine headaches different from those of hangover? A. They come on after a long time. B. They affect wine drinkers equally. C. They occur within a short time. D. They produce different symptoms. 29. What does the underlined word “suppressed” in Paragraph 3 probably mean? A. Blocked. B. Supplied. C. Increased. D. Supported. 30. What is the team going to focus on next? A. The cure for wine headaches. B. The reduction of quercetin. C. The effects of quercetin amount. D. The way to solve hangover. 31. What is the last paragraph mainly about? A. The background of the research. B. The importance of processes. C. The way to produce quercetin. D. The applications of the findings. 12 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·徐州市·期末统考) C Relatives of starfish, brittle stars(海蛇尾)spend most of their time hiding under rocks in the ocean or digging in the sand. These shy marine creatures have no brain to speak of—just nerve cords running down each of their five wiggly arms, which join to form a nerve ring near their mouth. “There’s no processing center. Each of the nerve cords can act independently. Instead of a boss, it’s like a committee. That seems to be enough to learn by association,” said lead author Julia Notar. This type of leaning involves associating different stimuli via a process called classical conditioning(条件反射). Classical conditioning has been demonstrated in a handful of previous studies in starfish. But brittle stars and similarly brainless starfish have not been tested. To find out if brittle stars have the ability of learning, the researchers put 16 black brittle stars in individual water tanks and used a video camera to record their behavior. Half the brittle stars were trained by dimming the lights for 30 minutes whenever the animals were fed. Every time the lights went out, the researchers would put a bit of shrimp in the tanks, placed just out of reach. The other half got just as much shrimp and also experienced a 30-minute dark period, but never at the same time—the animals were fed under lit conditions. Whether it was light or dark, the animals spent most of their time hiding behind the filters in their tanks, only coming out at mealtime. But only the trained brittle stars learned to associate darkness with food. They didn’t need to smell or taste the shrimp to react. Notar said the results are exciting because classical conditioning hasn’t really been shown definitively in this group of animals before. “Knowing that brittle stars can learn means they’re not just robotic scavengers(清道夫)cleaning up the ocean floor,” Notar said. “They’re potentially able to expect and avoid predators(捕食者)or expect food because they’re learning about their environment.” 28. What is paragraph 1 about? A. The living habits of brittle stars. B. The features of a brainless creature. C. The characteristics of the starfish. D. The definition of classical conditioning. 29. In which aspect were the two groups different in terms of experiment design? A. The hiding time in tanks. B. The change of feeding location. C. The amount of the shrimp. D. Light conditions at mealtime. 30. What does Notar’s research find? A. Brittle stars can be trained to make a connection. B. Brittle stars can clean up the ocean floor. C. Brittle stars’ nerve cords can act independently. D. Brittle stars have a sharp sense of smell. 31. What does the last paragraph indicate? A. Brainless brittle stars can act like robots. B. Brittle stars might keep away from catchers. C. Brittle stars are the only ocean floor cleaners. D. Brittle stars are adaptable to new environment. 13 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·淮安市·期末统考) C By flying in silence, the owl(猫头鹰)holds a deadly advantage over its prey(猎物), which is thought to have no idea of its hunter’s approach until its final moments. Researchers have spent more than 80 years trying to solve the mystery of how owls, unique among birds, slice through the air creating just a whisper of audible(听觉的)disturbance. They hope to make use of the findings to reduce the noise generated by aircraft wings, fans and wind turbine blades(涡轮机叶片). Extensive progress has been made, including developing innovations that have reduced noise from a wind turbine by as much as ten decibels(分贝), the difference between passing car and a passing truck, according to the authors of the study, Justin Jaworski and Nigel Peake. However, in the study, published in the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, they conclude that “the primary barrier to the design of owl-inspired technologies remains the lack of understanding of the essential physics of silent owl flight”. The slight swoosh(嗖)made by an incoming barn owl is below the reach of human hearing until the bird is just under one metre away, laboratory measurements have shown. In 1934, Robert Rule Graham, a British bird enthusiast and pilot, noted three structural aspects of owl wings that may help to explain their quiet approach: an unusual “comb” structure projecting from the wing’s leading edge, a soft layer of downy feathers that covers most of the wing and a ragged fringe(外围)of feathers that line the trailing wing edge. His theory is widely cited(引用). Some researchers found that many larger owl species, such as the barn owl, can continuously track their prey in flight by hearing alone, meaning that any aerodynamic noise does not interfere with their tracking ability. When an aeroplane lands, much of the noise comes not from its engines but from the flow of air rushing around it. The ragged, feathered fringes of the owl’s wings may help to reduce the noise. 28. What is the purpose of the researchers’ study on owls? A. To understand the flying techniques of owls. B. To increase the flying speed of aircraft. C. To help hunters catch their preys with ease. D. To put the secret of owls’ quiet flight to use. 29. The underlined part in paragraph 3 is used to ________. A. compare the noise of cars with that of trucks B. illustrate the great achievements of the research C. show the striking difference between trucks and cars D. explain there is still a long way to go in reducing noise 30. What is the major difficulty in designing owl-inspired technologies? A. Lacking the source of inspiration. B. Limited sense of hearing of human beings. C. Failing to understand how owls fly silently. D. Blindness to the structure of owls’ wings. 31. What can we learn from the last paragraph? A. Owls don’t move their wings when hunting for their prey. B. The flying barn owl can follow their prey just by hearing. C. Much of the plane’s noise comes from its engines when landing. D. The feathered fringes of the owl’s wings generate the flow of air. 14 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市五校联盟·期末联考) C Human innovation(创新)has allowed people to explore space for decades. Within a space station, astronauts have enough air, food and water to complete missions of a year or longer without a resupply. But missions to further reaches of space are a different matter. Establishing a base on the moon or sending humans to Mars seems just on the horizon. That can only happen if innovative and foolproof ways are developed to supply humans with enough air, water and food. One company, Interstellar Labs, has developed an advanced, closed loop system that can grow plants anywhere, even in space. They call their AI managed greenhouses BioPods and they are designed to be very efficient. In fact, Interstellar Labs claims that BioPods reduce the amount of land and water needed to produce food by 99 percent. That is not an impossible claim. BioPods don’t use any soil to grow plants, and the vast majority of water is recycled and recirculated. Plants are grown inside BioPods using aeroponics, the practice of hanging plants in the air and spraying a mist of nutrient-rich water on their roots. By using aeroponics, the BioPod system carefully conserves water with amazing results. According to Interstellar labs, BioPod-grown plants are up to 300 times more productive than traditionally grown plants, using only a small amount of water. The conditions inside of a BioPod are controlled by AI, which can change anything from the lighting to the temperature and humidity to maximize growth. This optimizes(使最优化)growing conditions no matter what the environment is outside, including the emptiness of space. The BioPods themselves can be built in almost any environment, too. The pod’s structure is made with a 3D printer using raw materials in liquid form. The inside part is sealed with an inflatable membrane(充气膜)that is also 3D-printed. This means that a BioPod could be built right on the surface of the moon or Mars, making transporting a large structure unnecessary. Like most technology developed for space exploration, BioPods can also be used on Earth to provide highly efficient food production systems even in the harshest environments. 28. In writing paragraph 1, the author aims to____________. A. propose a definition B. introduce a topic C. make a comparison D. reach a conclusion 29. Which of the following best describes Biopods? A. They are deigned to be used in harsh environments on Earth. B. They are easy to operate without need for soil or water. C. They are highly productive and efficient greenhouses. D. They are widely used for space exploration. 30. Which of the following can be the best title for the text? A. Space Exploration with BioPods B. Growing Food in Space Pods C. Food Consumption in Space Station D. 3D Printers Used in Space Lab 31. What is the writer’s attitude to the BioPod? A. Cautious. B. Indifferent. C. Positive. D. Ambiguous. 15 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市多校·期末联考) C(原卷为B篇) Decisions in life are rarely black and white but usually involve shades of gray. At dinner time, the decision you face is not between fasting and eating like a pig, but whether to take that extra spoonful of food. When exams are around the corner, your decision is not between quitting them and studying 24 hours a day, but whether to spend an extra hour reviewing your notes. Economists use the term “marginal changes” to describe minor adjustments to an existing plan of action. In many situations, people make the best decisions by thinking at the margin. Margin means “edge”, so marginal changes are adjustments around the edges of what you are doing. Suppose, for instance, that you ask a friend for advice about how many years to stay in school. If he compares the lifestyle of a person with a Ph. D. to that of a grade school dropout, you might complain that this comparison is not helpful for your decision. You have some education already and most likely are deciding whether to spend an extra year or two in school. To make this decision, you need to know the additional benefits that an extra year in school would offer(higher salaries throughout life and the pure joy of learning)and the additional costs that you would pay(tuition and the forgone salaries while you are in school). By comparing these marginal benefits and marginal costs, you can evaluate whether the extra year is worthwhile. Individuals and firms can make better decisions by thinking at the margin. A rational decision-maker takes action if and only if the marginal benefit of the action exceeds the marginal cost. 28. What does “fasting” underlined in Paragraph 1 mean? A. Eating or drinking a lot. B. Eating little or no food. C. Eating on a regular basis. D. Eating without appetite. 29. Why does the author give an example in Paragraph 2? A. To explain marginal thinking. B. To solve real-life problems. C. To evaluate marginal thinking. D. To encourage adjustments. 30. What can we infer from the text? A. It is unnecessary to make minor adjustments to plans. B. Comparison makes little sense in decision-making. C. People often weigh up benefits and costs of decisions. D. Marginal changes are controversial among individuals. 31. Which of the following can be the best title for the text? A. Marginal Thinking Leads to Better Decisions B. Marginal Benefit Goes beyond Marginal Cost C. Rational Thinkers Exist in All Aspects of Life D. Pleasure Results from Effective Comparison 16 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市大丰区新丰中学等五校·期末联考) C In English, a shadow can also be considered a weak form of ourselves. So, when someone is a weaker version of what they used to be, we can say they are a “shadow of their former self”. On the other hand, a person who is “larger than life” casts a big shadow. In this case, the shadow is not from their actual bodies but from their personality and successes. To “cast” in this case means to send something out or forward. Children of successful people often have problems. They “live in the shadow” of their parents and can feel not successful by comparison. We could also say that the successes of the parents “cast a shadow” over the lives of the children. Something else that can cast a shadow is our sins— actions considered to be bad. Here is another expression “old sins cast long shadows”. Think about your shadow on a sunny day. The shadow you cast can be long and far-reaching. The same can be said for our past mistakes and sins. They can reach far into the future. They affect our present-day situation. So, the saving “old sins cast long shadows” means that the wrong things we do early in our lives can have long term effects. And often, the sins of one person comes back to cause them great problems. In one mystery, a jewel thief double-crossed her partner. She kept the jewels they stole together for herself. She changed her name and moved to a quiet English village. She thought she had gotten away with it. But her partner in crime found her... and eventually so did the police. In the end, they were both arrested. When the police came to take the jewel thief away, she said, “How did you find me? My crime was so long ago,” The detective answered, “Old sins cast long shadows.” “Old sins cast long shadows” also can be used in another way. It can be used to talk about other people’s sins and how they affect us. It means that sometimes people suffer from the sins of others. 28. What can we learn from paragraph 2? A. Parents should be more demanding of their children B. Parents should set a successful example for their children. C. The success of children depends on the success of their parents. D. Successful parents should pay attention to protecting their children’s self-confidence. 29. What’s the main idea of paragraph 4? A. Past mistakes influence the present and future. B. Everyone has old sins and mistakes. C. We must avoid making mistakes. D. Other people’s sins may affect us. 30. Which is close to the underlined word “double-crossed” in paragraph 5? A. Committed. B. Cheated. C. Murdered. D. Encouraged. 31. What is the best title for the text? A. The Life in the Shadow B. The Sins Behind the Shadow C. Explore the Formation of Shadow D. Talking About Our Shadow 17 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城中学·期末校考) C This summer we witnessed interview teams at the North Pole wearing short sleeve shirts due to the warm weather. A study published on Aug 29 revealed more concerning issues in the supposedly coldest area of the world. Zombie ice from a massive Greenland ice sheet was confirmed to be melting, which would eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches(27 centimeters)on its own, reported Associated Press(AP). Zombie ice is the kind of ice that is still attached to thicker areas of ice but is no longer getting fed by larger glaciers. Since glaciers are getting less snow to make up for the amount of ice melted, once the zombie ice is melted, it cannot be re-formed. Scientists decided to look at the balance of the ice. In perfect equilibrium(平衡), snow in the mountains of Greenland flows down and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges, according to AP. But in the last few decades, there is less refill and more melting, creating an imbalance. Study co-author William Colgan at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland told AP that 3.3 percent of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt eventually. “Starying would be a good phrase” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan added. With a great number of natural resources buried under the earth, areas of melted ice revealed treasures that attracted the world’s richest men. According to CNN, in early August, there was a “treasure hunt” in Greenland. Billionaires, including Bill Gates and others, financially backed KoBold Metals, a US-based mineral exploration company, to explore the rare metals under the glaciers in Greenland. The company told CNN that since there were enough minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles, the critical resource is capable of powering the green energy transition. While investors are taking advantage of global warming, experts express their concerns that the mineral exploration is likely to worsen the local environment, running out of the world’s resources at a faster rate. 28. What do we know about zombie ice? A. It’s made up by nearby glaciers. B. It’s independent from large glaciers. C. It will melt away from the ice cap. D. It has increased sea levels by 10 inches. 29. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about? A. Why more zombie ice can’t be created. B. How zombie ice was formed in the past. C. What the melting of zombie ice can lead to. D. How zombie ice functions in the ecosystem. 30. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 imply? A. The ice has brought about starvation. B. The ice is refilled more than before. C. The ice is becoming gradually thinner. D. The ice has been good to skate on. 31. What’s the main purpose of the article? A. To explain a natural phenomenon. B. To comment on the “treasure hunt”. C. To call for environmental protection D. To report on the melting zombie ice. 18 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省响水中学·期末校考) C Coral reefs in Florida have lost an estimated 90% of their corals in the last 40 years. This summer, a marine heat wave hit Florida’s coral reefs. The record high temperatures created an extremely stressful environment for the coral reefs, which are currently also experiencing intense coral bleaching(白化). A coral is an animal, which has a symbiotic relationship with a microscopic algae(藻类). The algae gets energy from the sun and shares it with the coral internally. The coral builds a rock-like structure, which makes up most of the reef, providing homes and food for many organisms that live there. Coral bleaching is when the symbiotic relationship breaks down. Without the algae, the corals appear white because the rock skeleton becomes visible. If the bleaching continues for an extended period, the corals can starve to death without the energy. Florida is on the front lines of climate change. It is also on the cutting edge of restoration science. Many labs, institutions and other organizations are working nonstop to protect and maintain the coral reefs. This includes efforts to understand what is troubling the reef, from disease outbreaks to coastal development impacts. It also includes harvesting coral spawn(卵), or growing and planting coral parts. Scientists moved many coral nurseries into deeper water and shore-based facilities during this marine heat wave. They are digging into the DNA of the coral to discover which species will survive best in future. There are some bright spots in the story, however. Some corals have recovered from the bleaching, and many did not bleach at all. In addition, researchers recorded coral spawning. Although it’s not clear yet whether the larvae(幼虫)will be successful in the wild, it’s a sign of recovery potential. If the baby corals survive, they will be able to regrow the reef. They just have to avoid one big boss: human-induced climate change. 28. What does the underlined word “symbiotic” in paragraph 2 mean? A. Reliable. B. Opposite. C. Harmonious. D. Contradictory. 29. What caused the coral bleaching? A. The rock skeleton. B. The microscopic algae. C. The high temperatures. D. The symbiotic relationship. 30. Which is not the efforts scientists made to help coral reefs? A. Transferring coral nurseries. B. Growing and planting coral spawn. C. Researching the DNA of the coral. D. Figuring out the reasons for problems. 31. Which of the following best describes the impact of scientists’ efforts? A. Identifiable. B. Predictable. C. Far-reaching. D. Effective. 19 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省阜宁中学·期末校考) C Lots of animals live and move in groups--elephants in herds, wolves in packs, birds in flocks, and fish in schools. Research has shown that where an individual is located in the group can affect the benefits it gets from hanging out in a crowd. However, Shaun Killen, an ecophysiologist at the University of Glasgow in the UK says, researchers haven’t yet fully explored the role of physiological processes such as digestion in driving animals’ collective behavior. Killen and his colleagues recently studied schools of Eurasian minnows(修鱼)swimming in a tank against a current. Pieces of food were constantly moving past the fish, and the team recorded how many each minnow ate and the fishes’ positions before and after eating. After calculating the metabolic(新陈代谢的)costs of digesting each fish’s meal and comparing it to the fish’s position ,the team observed a trend: fish that had just gulped down a big meal moved to the back of the school, even when they’d swum at the front at most other times. “It makes sense that feeding would influence individuals’ positions in a group,” says DamienFarine, who studies collective behavior in birds at the University of Konstanz in Germany, “If a fish is hungry, it’s competing with others in the school to eat, and being at the front gives it access to more food. But once the fish is full, it doesn’t necessarily need to be at the front.” In addition,“being at the back of the group is less energetically costly for a range of reasons,” Farine notes.” An individual at the back doesn’t have to contribute to navigating, and by relaxing the brain load it saves more energy.” Killen says he’s been thinking about the pros and cons of being at the back of the pack, such as protection from attackers and a boost from schoolmates’ slipstream. Changes in position, especially during the basic trade -off between feeding and movement, appear to influence group leadership ,information transfer, and group decision making. But the consequences of the trade-offs for group power and survival are not yet understood. 28. What does Killen and his colleagues’ study focus on? A. How behavioral traits influence position change of individuals in fish schools. B. How location influences nutrition states of individuals in fish schools. C. How digestion influences distribution of individuals in fish schools. D. How location influences benefits of individuals in fish schools. 29. What do the underlined words “gulped down” mean in Paragraph 2? A. Swallowed. B. Located. C. Witnessed. D. Missed. 30. What can we learn from Paragraph3? A. A full fish competes to eat at the back. B. A hungry fish has easier access to more food. C. Being at the back saves the energy of a full fish. D. Being at the front costs a hungry fish less energy. 31. What is Shaun Killen’s attitude to his study? A. Cautious. B. Confident. C. Positive. D. Disappointed. 20 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·连云港市·期末统考) C(原卷为B篇) Emmanuel Mendoza, a college student, is currently running a study at Texas A&M University, where he’s mixing simulated(模拟的)Martian(火星的)soil and frass(粪便)from fly larvae(幼虫)to find just the right recipe for growing plants on Mars. The seed of this idea was planted when Mendoza was in middle school, watching Ridley Scott’s 2015 film The Martian, in which Mark Watney becomes stuck on the planet and grows potatoes to survive. “That got me really interested in what nutrients or what soil structure Martian soil has that we could potentially take advantage of, ”Mendoza said. Now, he’s running an experiment growing English peas in simulated Martian soil. “I definitely considered potatoes like Mark Watney, ”he said. “But the fact was that I couldn’t necessarily get the data I wanted out of them. ” He wanted to be able to measure plant growth as it occurred throughout his experiment. Since potatoes grow underground, he’d only be able to collect data once they were done growing. In the end, Mendoza chose to grow English peas because they’re self-pollinating(自花传粉), grow fairly quickly and he can see the shoots climb. Martian soil, though it does contain other essential nutrients, isn’t exactly ideal for plants from Earth. It tends to be rocky and lacks the right organic(有机 的)matter. Here’s where the larvae come in. Mendoza turned to the larvae of black soldier flies, which produce a waste known as frass. “They can break down almost any biomatter and turn it into really useful matter, “Mendoza said. “And then you can use the frass as a nutrient alternative to soil.” For this experiment, Mendoza mixed different percentages of simulated Martian soil and frass to see what best supported growing English pea plants. Now, he said he’s seeing growth across all his plants—even the ones growing in 100%simulated Martian soil. 28. Why does the author mention the film The Martian? A. To show Mendoza’s enthusiasm for films. B. To illustrate Mark Watney’s intelligence. C. To prove Mark Watney’s interest in gardening. D. To introduce the origin of Mendoza’s experiment. 29. Why did Mendoza grow English peas instead of potatoes? A. He was unwilling to repeat others’ study. B. English peas grew far faster than potatoes . C. Potatoes needed stricter living conditions. D. It was more convenient to collect the data. 30. What is the function of frass? A. It serves as certain essential nutrients. B. It loosens the soil for plants to grow. C. It makes the soil become quite rocky. D. It helps black soldier flies grow stronger. 31. How does Mendoza feel about his experiment results? A. Doubtful. B. Pleased. C. Intolerant. D. Disappointed. 21 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·连云港市·期末统考) C A number of studies have looked at how family life can affect productivity(生产效率)and satisfaction in the workplace, but there has been surprisingly little research on the influence of leisure activities. So Ciara Kelly at Sheffield University and co-workers surveyed 129 hobbyists to look at how the time spent on their hobbies shaped their work life. To begin with, the team measured the seriousness of each participant’s hobby, asking them to rate their agreement with statements like ”I regularly train for this activity“, and also assessed how similar the demands of their job and hobby were. Then, each month for seven months, participants recorded how many hours they had devoted to their activity, and completed a scale measuring their belief in their ability to effectively do their job, or their “self-efficacy”(自我效能). They also completed a scale measuring their resilience(适应力)at work. The researchers found that when participants spent longer than normal doing their leisure activity, their belief in their ability to perform their job increased. But this was only the case when they had a serious hobby that was dissimilar to their job, or when their hobby was similar to their work but they only did it occasionally. When their hobby was both serious and similar to their job, then spending more time on it actually had a detrimental effect, decreasing their self-efficacy. Why might that be? To maintain a serious hobby, people need to invest significant psychological resources—so if the activity has the same kinds of demands as their work, they may be left tired and unable to perform as well at their job. But if their hobby is quite different from their career, it may not interfere(干预)in the same way but instead help them develop other knowledge and skills that can boost their confidence at work. Still, the results suggest that companies may want to encourage employees to develop interests outside of work, as long as those activities differ from their day-to-day tasks. 28. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about? A. The methods of assessment. B. The completion of scales. C. The causes of self-efficacy. D. The process of Kelly’s survey. 29. What does the underlined word ”detrimental“ in Paragraph 4 mean? A. Useful. B. Harmful. C. Productive D. Positive. 30. Kelly’s study found that people’s productivity can increase if ________. A. their hobbies differ much from their work routine B. their hobbies have the same demands as their work C. they assume that they can gain skills from their jobs D. they believe that they can perform better in their work 31. What can be a suitable title for the text? A. Boss: Allow your staff to relax more B. Employee: Devote more time to work C. Boss: Offer your staff more leisure activities D. Employee: Develop hobbies dissimilar to jobs 22 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·苏州市·期末统考) C My family has a new toy. At every gathering, a Mata Quest 2 virtual reality headset is now carefully unpacked and passed around. The metaverse(元宇宙)that the headsets access sounds like an appealing place. Create your own form, move between worlds and beyond the limitations of reality — what could be better? Yet the headsets are still massive and the apps cartoonist. Even the game my family loves best shows that perfect interaction with the real world and realistic pictures are still years away. After an hour, not even my nephews want to play anymore. Yet this observation runs counter to the steady drumbeat of warnings that have emerged about virtual life over the past year. When Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen spoke out against her employer, addiction to the metaverse was one of the things she claims to be most worried about. Immersive environments would encourage users to disconnect from reality altogether, she said. You can see why product managers like Haugen might worry. Many of us lost the battle against limiting our Internet use long ago. Tech addiction has tricked our brains into habits that ensure our overconsumption of tech products. For instance, our addiction to checking and rechecking our messaging apps. Or looking out for email notifications(通知). On this point, I agree. I’m guilty of both. I turned my own screentime reminders off months ago. Simply knowing how much time I was spending on my phone didn’t seem to be having any effect on my habits. In lockdowns, spending hours at a time on the Internet became normalized. Yet this does not mean we are all on the edge of spending hours and hours in the metaverse. In the four years I have spent testing out virtual and augmented(强化的)headsets, I have yet to try one that feels comfortable. “Like tying a brick to your forehead,” as one friend put it. It is possible to buy upgraded head bands that attempt to redistribute the weight, but even so the sets still remain heavy. 28. How did the attitude of the author’s family change towards playing VR games? A. From being absorbed to bored. B. From being confused to confident. C. From being curious to excited. D. From being casual to interested. 29. In paragraph 2, what does the underlined phrase “run counter to” mean? A. Confirm. B. Challenge. C. Repeat. D. Ignore. 30. What does the underlined word “both” refer to? ① minimizing online use. ② checking messaging apps repeatedly. ③ being addicted to email notifications. ④ silencing the screen-time reminders. A. ①② B. ②③ C. ③④ D. ①④ 31. What might stop people from spending too much time on the metaverse? A. The addiction to virtual reality. B. The anxiety caused by lockdowns. C. The heaviness of virtual reality headsets. D. The cost involved with buying tech products. 01 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南京市六校联合体·期末联考) D While tortillas(玉米粉圆饼)come to mind when Mexico is mentioned, every January 6, Mexicans’ love of bread reaches the highest point with the cutting of oval brioche(奶油蛋卷)decorated with candied fruit known as king cakes to celebrate a special festival. Just hours before Mexicans took their first slices, hundreds of shoppers packed amid the overwhelming smell of fresh-baked bread inside the Ideal Bakery, one of Mexico City’s oldest bakeries, to buy their king cakes, known as “rosca de reyes”. Among the big crowd was Dalia Hernandez, a 34-year-old homemaker who was thrilled to go to the bakery. “I really like coming to the bakery. Last year, only my husband came, but this time we all came because it is part of a family tradition,” she said. “The tradition of the cakes has lived on and we are so crazy about them because they are part of our culture, our identity as Mexicans.” The king cakes have their origins in 14th-century France and Spain and got to Mexico Later. Even though the king cake is a seasonal treat eaten only during the early days of January, it’s something enjoyed by all levels of Mexican society, keeping demand high, said Oswaldo Tapia, chef for the company NTD Ingredients. Mexico has added its own touches, making it in an oval shape and often filling it with cream. Traditionally, Mexicans had decorated their king cakes with acitron, a candied element from a particular type of cactus(仙人掌). But the government prohibited that in 2005 due to the impact on the species. Other fruits are now substituted for it. The figurine(小雕像)of a baby is hidden inside the cakes. The person who finds the figurine in their slice is supposed to buy tamales(玉米粉蒸肉)for everyone present on February 2, another feast day. Inside the Ideal Bakery Wednesday, Ana Morales, a 54-year-old businesswoman, recalled running through the building’s patio as a child. Her family lived in an upper part of the building so she awoke each morning to the smell of baking bread. “This place is fascinating, beautiful,” Morales said. “Coming today for a real rosca de reyes is to live a beautiful festival. The truth is whoever doesn’t eat rosca de reyes doesn’t know Mexico. This is the taste of Mexico. It is a tradition and a privilege to be able to still enjoy bread.” 32. Why are Mexicans crazy about the king cakes according to Dalia Hernandez? A. Because they regard the king cakes as a cultural symbol of Mexico. B. Because they are easily influenced by family members. C. Because they believe the king cakes can help them fight against bad things. D. Because they consider the king cakes as the best food for a family get-together. 33. What can we learn about the king cakes from the passage? A. Poor Mexicans can barely afford them. B. They cannot be enjoyed all year around. C. They come in a variety of shapes in Mexico. D. They were introduced to Mexico in the early 14th century. 34. What was the problem with the king cakes decorated with acitron? A. They were not as delicious as expected. B. They were not attractive in appearance. C. Acitron could not be widely found in Mexico. D. The growth of a special plant was affected. 35. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage? A. To introduce a special Mexican food. B. To show the Mexican way to bake bread. C. To explore the origin of a popular Mexican food. D. To prove the popularity of a Mexican food worldwide. 02 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·苏州市·期末统考) D If you have ever found yourself concluding that intelligence is in short supply in the modern world, perhaps you are looking in the wrong place. There are still plenty of smarts to be found elsewhere. You will be familiar with the cleverness of dolphins and chimpanzees. But what about wasps(黄蜂)? They can recognize human faces. Or mosquitoes? They can learn to avoid being killed by chemicals after a single taste. Such an astonishing group of talent is rather unsettling, which raises fundamental questions like what actually is intelligence, how did it develop and how do the abilities of various organisms(生物)compare? Evaluating intelligence in nature is tricky, particularly in life forms that are very different from us. Now a group of neuroscientists, AI researchers and philosophers want to create a periodic table of intelligence similar to the one used to categorize the chemical elements. The chemical version sorts elements by their atomic(原子的)number or atomic mass. For intelligence, researchers are still looking for a criterion that is equally straightforward. But where to begin? It certainly isn’t brain size, as was long thought. Behavior might be a better way to categorize cleverness. But testing for intelligence through behavior is difficult. Recognizing oneself in a mirror is seen as a sign of advanced cognition(认知). Dolphins and bats can do it — but dogs typically can’t. Does this reflect a lack of intelligence in dogs or perhaps something else, such as their reliance more on smell than vision. Likewise, many organisms live in environments that are obviously different from ours and so might use senses that we don’t even possess. Nevertheless, the researchers behind the initiative think intelligence might become clearer through a combination of behavioral and neuroanatomical(神经解剖学的)features. “We’re going to ask, are there kinds of intelligence, and can we identify structural features that are organizational of those kinds of intelligence?” says Andrew Barron at Macquarie University. “If we can, then we are starting to identify things that can be thought of as possible dimensions of intelligence.” 32. Why are wasps and mosquitoes mentioned in paragraph 2? A. To make comparisons between them. B. To prove smarts are in short supply. C. To show there are other forms of intelligence. D. To illustrate their similarities with humans. 33. Which fails to explain the difficulty in evaluating cleverness in nature? A. It is upsetting to see different talents in natural settings. B. It is hard to compare the abilities of different species. C. Life forms in the natural world are different from humans. D. It requires us to answer some basic questions about intelligence. 34. Why is testing for intelligence through behavior challenging? A. Factors like brain size matter more. B. Other features need to be considered. C. Some organisms possess similar senses. D. All animals show signs of advanced cognition. 35. What could be a possible title for the passage? A. Different Minds B. Surprising Behaviors C. Unique Senses D. Diverse Species 03 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·无锡市·期末统考) D Climate change is not only a human problem; animals have to adapt to it as well. Some “warm-blooded” animals are shapeshifting(变形)and getting larger legs, ears, and beak s to better control their body temperatures as the planet gets hotter. Bird researcher Sara Ryding of Deakin University in Australia describes these changes in a review. “It’s high time we recognized that animals also have to adapt to these changes, and this is occurring over a far shorter time than would have occurred through most of evolutionary time,” says Ryding. “The climate change that we have created is putting a lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not.” Ryding notes that climate change is a complex phenomenon that’s been occurring gradually, so it’s difficult to determine just one cause of the shapeshifting. But these changes have been occurring across wide geographical regions and among a variety of species, so there is little in common apart from climate change. Strong shapeshifting has particularly been reported in birds. Several species of Australian parrot have shown, on average, a 4% to 10% increase in size since 1871, and this is positively associated with the summer temperature each year. North American dark-eyed juncos, a type of small songbird, had a link between increased size and short-term temperature extremes in cold environments. There have also been reported changes in mammalian(哺乳动物)species. Researchers have reported tail length increases in wood mice. “The increases in appendage(附肢)size we see so far are quite small — less than 10% — so the changes are unlikely to be immediately noticeable,” says Ryding. “However, prominent(突起的)appendages such as ears are predicted to increase.” Next, Ryding intends to investigate shapeshifting in Australian birds by 3D scanning museum bird samples from the past 100 years. Undoubtedly, it will give her team a better understanding of which birds are changing appendage size due to climate change and why. 32. What is the purpose of paragraph 1? A. To introduce a bird researcher. B. To present a shapeshifting phenomenon. C. To explain the cause of climate change. D. To state the terrible influence of climate change. 33. What can be inferred about animals’ shapeshifting from paragraphs 2 and 3? A. It is slower than their evolution. B. It’s impossible to determine its cause. C. It is a global phenomenon beyond species. D. Climate change is its potential cause. 34. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about? A. The examples of shapeshifting. B. The effects of shapeshifting. C. The explanations of shapeshifting. D. The history of shapeshifting. 35. Which of the following will Ryding’s next study focus on? A. The speed of shapeshifting. B. The cause of climate change. C. The samples of Australian birds. D. The understanding of bird history. 04 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·江苏省常州高级中学·期末考试) D “Few articles change owners more frequently than clothes. They travel downwards from grade to grade in the social scale with remarkable regularity,” wrote the journalist Adolphe Smith in 1877 as he traced a coat’s journey in the last century: cleaned, repaired and resold repeatedly; cut down into a smaller item; eventually recycled into new fabric. But with the improvement in people’s living standards, that model is mind-boggling in the era of fast fashion. The average British customer buys four items a month. And it is reported that 350,000 tonnes of used but still wearable clothes go to landfills in the UK each year. Yet the gradual revival of the second-hand trade has gathered pace in the past few years. At fashion website Asos, sales of vintage clothes(古董衫)have risen by 92%. Clothing was once worn out of necessity, and now it is simply a way of life. Busy families sell used items on eBay, teenagers trade on Depop and some fashion people offer designer labels on Vestiaire Collective. Strikingly, it has become big enough business that mainstream retailers(零售商)want a slice of the action. For some buyers and sellers, the switch to the second-hand is born of financial difficulties. Only a few have become worried about the impact of their shopping habit on the planet. But the shift is only a partial solution. Some people worry that some mainstream brands may “greenwash” — using second-hand goods to improve their image, rather than engaging more seriously with sustainability. However, the biggest concern may be that people keep buying because they know they can resell goods, still chasing the pleasure of the next purchase but with an eased conscience(愧疚). Boohoo, a powerful fast fashion company, has seen sales and profits rise, despite concerns about environmental problems in its supply chain that led to an investigation last year. A new Netflix series, Worn Stories, documents the emotional meanings that clothes can have: Each old item is full of memories. Actually, a handbag from a grandmother and a scarf passed on by a father are both valuable for us. A love of style is not a bad or an unimportant thing. But a committed relationship is better than a quick flash. Can we learn to appreciate our own old clothes as well as others’? 32. What does the word “mind-boggling” underlined in paragraph 1 probably mean? A. Unbelievable. B. Popular. C. Reasonable. D. Influential. 33. With the business mentioned in paragraph 2, the author wants to show _______. A. old clothes are more popular than new pieces B. the online second-hand markets are booming C. the fashion world begins to favor vintage clothes D. many clothing brands are innovative in their new products 34. How does the second-hand trade impact people according to paragraph 4? A. It makes people feel free to pursue fast fashion. B. It makes people more cautious about their budgets. C. It encourages people to choose eco-friendly clothes. D. It pushes people to be more engaged with sustainability. 35. Which of the following views does Worn Stories advocate? A. Old items have lost favor with the public. B. Old items are worthy of being long cherished. C. Older generations attach great importance to old items. D. Older generations care about the quality of their clothes. 05 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南通海安市·期末统考) D Most people don’t know much about electric eels(鳗鱼), except that they produce electricity. Although not endangered, electric eels only live in one small region of the world and are hard to keep in captivity(圈养), so most people have never seen one. The most important fact to know about electric eels is that they are not actually eels. Although it has a long body like an eel, the electric eel is actually a type of knife-fish. Scientists have been confused about it for many years. The electric eel was first described by Linnaeus in 1766. At present, the electric eel is the only species in its family. It is only found in muddy, shallow waters surrounding the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America. An electric eel living in water, needs to rise to the surface and breathe about once every ten minutes. In the wild, electric eels live about 15 years. In captivity by human being, they may live 22 years. An electric eel has three organs in its belly that produce electricity. Together, the organs make up four-fifths of an eel’s body, allowing it to deliver low voltage or high voltage or use electricity for electrolocation. In other words, only 20 percent of an eel is devoted to its vital organs. A shock from an electric eel is like the brief and sudden hit from an electric stick. Normally, the shock can’t kill a person. However, the eels can cause heart or respiratory failure from multiple shocks or in persons with underlying heart disease. More often, deaths from electric eels shocks occur when the sudden hit knocks a person in the water and they drown. Eel bodies are insulated, so they don’t normally shock themselves. However, if an eel is injured, the wound can make the eel vulnerable to electricity. 32. What can we learn about electric eels according to the passage? A. They are close to getting extinct. B. They are used to living in clear rivers. C. They can breathe once every ten minutes. D. They can possibly be raised in captivity. 33. What made scientists feel confused about electric eels? A. The living area. B. The origin of the name. C. The shape of their body. D. The reason for producing electricity. 34. What can we infer from the passage? A. High voltage can shock an electric eel itself to death. B. Three organs in an electric eel’s belly produce electricity. C. Three organs in the belly can produce different voltages separately. D. Shocks from an electric eel may be a contributing cause of a person’s death. 35. Where may be the passage taken from? A. A website about biology. B. A paper about endangered species. C. A science fiction about animals. D. An engineering course about electricity. 06 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·南通启东市·期末统考) D Underwater travel is difficult and dangerous, but many people have reasons to stay deep under the ocean. Soldiers in submarines travel long distances underwater. Companies looking for oil and other resources stay underwater, too. Humans have come up with a few designs of vehicles to move around under the ocean. But what if there was a better way to travel? Hilary Bart-Smith, an engineer at the University of Virginia, thinks a vehicle that travels like a man ta ray would be able to operate for long periods at sea as if it were a living organism. Manta rays, a type of cartilaginous(软骨的)fish, can grow up to 29 feet long, which are found throughout the world in tropical, subtropical, and temperate waters. Manta rays are some of the most efficient swimmers in the ocean. Different from animals and people pushing against water in order to swim, the manta ray swims by moving through the water with wing-like movements of their fins(鳍). Efficiency means using less energy to move farther and causing less pollution. Bart-Smith and other engineers at the University of Virginia had to find out what manta rays looked like on the inside to better understand how they move. They took x-rays to find out how a manta ray’s fins are built. They found that a web of cartilage, which is the same kind of material that your ears and nose are made from, stretches across each fin. Once the engineers knew how a manta ray’s fin was constructed, they could build one of their own. They made a long row of metal struts with many hinges to imitate the manta ray’s web of cartilage, acting like your finger, which can bend as one long line, or bend in many places to make a curve. The engineers put their design inside a flexible cover, shaped like a manta ray’s fin. Then they tested it in the university swimming pool. They were happy to see that it swam just like a manta ray in the ocean. Engineers and scientists are still learning and experimenting with how to imitate these amazing animals. Perhaps someday engineers will be able to build manta ray robots that are big enough to transport people. For now, engineers study their movement and learn from the most efficient swimmers in the ocean. 32. Why does the author raise a question in the first paragraph? A. To lead to the main topic. B. To ask for a correct answer. C. To suggest exploring the sea. D. To summarize people’s views. 33. What can we learn about a manta ray? A. It can grow at least 29 feet long. B. It swims with much less energy. C. It can inhabit all kinds of waters. D. It swims by pushing against water. 34. What can we infer from the research? A. The engineers failed to build a man ta ray’s fin. B. Artificial “manta rays” remain to be improved. C. The experiments were carried out in the ocean. D. Vehicles like manta rays have been put into use. 35. What is the author’s attitude towards the project? A. Unclear. B. Doubtful. C. Negative. D. Optimistic. 07 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·泰州市·期末统考) D(原卷为C篇) Stress in teenagers can be reduced by a 30-minute online intervention(干预)aimed at encouraging a growth mindset and seeing the body’s reaction to stress as a positive. It interprets physical responses such as a racing heart as potentially performance-enhancing. Mental problems among teenagers are on the rise in the United Kingdom, with rates of probable mental health disorders increasing from one in nine(12%)in 2021 to one in five(20%)in 2023, and there are long waits for access to services in some regions. A study involving more than 4,000 secondary school pupils and university students suggests the new approach could be a low-cost, effective treatment for adolescent stress. “We’re trying to change teenagers’ beliefs about and their responses to stressful situations,” said Dr David Yeager, first author of the study. “Actually when you’re doing something hard and your body starts to feel stressed, that could be a good thing.” Yeager and colleagues conducted a series of controlled trials. In one trial, half of 166students were given the intervention while the rest were not. All the students were then surprised with a request to give a speech about their personal strengths and weaknesses in front of peer evaluators who had been trained to create an unsupportive atmosphere by sighing and frowning. Those who had been given the intervention had lower stress responses, based on heart rate and other physical measures. In another experiment, the intervention was shown to influence academic achievement nine months later, with students 14% more likely to pass classes at the end of the academic year. In the final experiment, teenagers who had received the online intervention reported lower levels of general anxiety several months later. Yeager said the new approach went against the “common principle of self-care” that often appears to view stress as uniquely negative and suggests people “go do yoga or have a camomile tea(甘菊茶)’. “That’s a way to take your attention away but it doesn’t help you deal with the fundamental cause of stress, he said. 32. Why does the author mention the figures in Paragraph 2? A. To provide historical information about the study. B. To present the advantages of the online intervention. C. To explain the necessity of providing the public services. D. To stress the severity of mental problems in UK teenagers. 33. What is teenagers’ misunderstanding of stress? A. It is something negative. B. It is something positive. C. Many people are struggling with it. D. It contributes to their growth. 34. From the controlled experiments, we know the intervention might A. lead to academic improvement and lower anxiety B. do good to teenagers’ physical and mental health C. help students evaluate their strengths and weaknesses D. prove efficient in ridding teenagers of stress immediately 35. What does Yeager think about the new approach? A. It casts new light on the cause of stress. B. It changes people’s perspective on stress. C. It respects people’s opinions about self-care. D. It relieves teenagers’ stress more effectively. 08 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·泰兴兴化市·期末统考) D(原卷为B篇) Many people have participated into lots of virtual meetings these years. Some research shows this adjustment might not impact workplace productivity to any great degree. A new study, though, suggests otherwise. In the study, 602 participants were randomly paired and asked to come up with creative uses for a product. They were also randomly selected to work together either in person or virtually. The pairs were then ranked by assessing their total number of ideas, as well as those concepts’ degree of novelty, and asked to submit their best idea. Among the groups, virtual pairs came up with significantly fewer ideas, suggesting that something about face-to-face interaction generates more creative ideas. The findings could stiffen employers’ resolve to urge or require their employees to come back to the office. “We ran this experiment based on feedback from companies that it was harder to innovate with remote workers,” said lead researcher Melanie Brucks. “Unlike other forms of virtual communication, like phone calls or e-mail, videoconferencing copies the in-person experience quite well, so I was surprised when we found meaningful differences between in-person and video interaction for idea generation.” When random objects were placed in both the virtual and physical rooms, the virtual pairs of participants spent more time looking directly at each other rather than letting their look wander about the room and taking in the entire scene. Eyeing one’s whole environment and noticing the random objects were associated with increased idea generation. On platforms, the screen occupies our interactions. Our look wavers less. “Looking away might come across as rude,” said Brucks, “so we have to look at the screen because that is the defined context of the interaction, the same way we wouldn’t walk to another room while talking to someone in person.” Like most educators, Brucks has primarily taught virtually in the past three years, and she did notice some benefits of the approach as well. Her students were more likely to take turns speaking and her shyer students spoke up more often, rid of the anxiety that comes from addressing a large classroom. Brucks found that one solution to improving virtual idea generation might be to simply turn off the camera, for her students felt “freer” and more creative when asked to do so. And this may be sound advice for the workplace. 32. What does the underlined word “stiffen” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean? A. challenge. B. revise. C. strengthen. D. shake. 33. At first, lead researcher Melanie Brucks might think that _________. A. Creative ideas may emerge from casual thoughts. B. The feedback from companies seems questionable. C. Participants should make eye contact in an online meeting. D. Videoconferencing can’t compare with in-person communication. 34. What can we learn about Brucks’ students? A. They progressed in focusing attention. B. They relieved anxiety by speaking up. C. They displayed talent for public speaking. D. They took advantage of virtual learning. 35. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A. Brainstorming Online Limits Creativity B. Interacting In Person Boosts Efficiency C. Grouping Randomly Increases Productivity D. Maintaining Teamwork Improves Innovation 09 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·扬州市·期末统考) D The change caused by increased scientific funding during the 20th century is remarkable. Thomas Edison electrified the world from his industrial lab at Menlo Park, and the Carnegie Foundation was the major supporter of Edwin Hubble. Advances in science during the Second World War—from the development of radar to the atom bomb — encouraged governments and companies to increase their funding. However, a growing amount of work shows that the reward has fallen even as more money is spent on research. One explanation for this is that the way science is funded is out of date. The rate at which funding applications are approved has fallen. Two-fifths of a top scientist’s time is spent on things other than research, such as looking for money. Risky ideas are often put aside. It is time to make another change. The first step is to try new things. More money could fund promising people rather than specific projects, encouraging researchers to take risks. Countries should also learn from the best practices of others. American funders give over three times more to science than the European funders do. Europeans might benefit from learning from others’ practices. More important still is to find ways to measure what is working and what is not, and then adapt accordingly. Governments might consider appointing leading scientists or chief economists to do the data analysis in various scientific fields. One interesting idea is to keep a close eye on the projects that they do not fund, and track how they perform. None of this will be easy. Scientific funders say they want to experiment, but they also face pressure to support research that can be easily explained, to keep politicians happy. In some cases more money may be the only solution. Still, the economic returns to research are so large — at least ten times the original investment — that fixing the system is well worth the effort. Like science itself, the way of funding it must also progress. 32. Why does the author mention Thomas Edison in Paragraph 1? A. To praise the inventor’s achievement. B. To explain the change with examples. C. To compare scientific breakthroughs. D. To transform the funding for science. 33. What can we learn from Paragraph 2? A. Most scientists are devoted to research. B. Funding for research is less rewarding. C. Funding applications get fast approved. D. Scientists should look for more money. 34. What does the author suggest funders do? A. Support people with risky ideas. B. Invest money in specific projects. C. Analyse the data to earn money. D. Let go of the unfunded projects. 35. What is the author’s attitude toward another change in science funding? A. Unclear. B. Negative. C. Doubtful. D. Approving. 10 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·宿迁市·期末统考) D Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website Book Crossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group. Members go on the website and register(注册)the books they own and would like to share. BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it. Bruce Pederson, the managing director of BookCrossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. BookCrossing combines both.” Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it. People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossing to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home. BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual. The website now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries. 32. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph? A. To make comparisons. B. To introduce the topic. C. To stress the importance. D. To provide an example. 33. Why does BookCrossing attract so many people? A. They like to pass books to another reader. B. They like to mail books back to their owner. C. They like to keep books safe in the bookcase. D. They like to get back to the traditional style. 34. What does the underlined word “virtual” in the last paragraph mean? A. Unreal. B. Effective. C. Meaningful. D. Wonderful. 35. What is the best title for the text? A. Electronic Books: A new Trend B. A Website Brings Tradition Back C. Online Reading: A fashionable trend D. A Book Group for unselfish people 11 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·徐州市·期末统考) D The song of the Florida grasshopper sparrow is unusual and surprisingly insect-like. But it almost fell silent forever. In 2012, Joel Sartore, the founder of National Geographic Explorer and Photo Ark received a call from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The songbird, an important ecological link in Florida’s dry grassland, was on the edge of extinction. With only a few dozen males showing up in counts, it was among North America’s most endangered bird species. Sartore flew to Florida to photograph the bird and work with conservationists to raise awareness of the species’ difficult situation. The story appeared in outlets, such as newspapers, magazines and even the Internet, helping boost government funding for a breeding program. Thanks to these steps, there are now as many as 180 adults in the wild and researchers are working hard to bring the species back from the brink of extinction. Like other examples of species survival, the push to save the sparrow is “a remarkable story of belief and cooperation,” says Sartore. It also shows what it takes to protect an endangered species: research, narratives, partnerships, resources and time. This journey shows the society’s mission to illustrate and protect the wonder of the world. Over the past 136 years, we’ve developed a unique Explorer-led model, combining science, exploration, education, and storytelling to drive impact. We support Explorer in more than 140 countries, including Sartore and others whose work appears in this issue: biologist André Green II, photographer Lynsey Addario and education advocate Ara Kusuma. Sartore has been creating an “ark” of animal photos for 17 years. Portraits of more than 15, 000 species invite audiences to connect and care. With the society’s support, the images have appeared on landmarks and U. S. postage stamps, prompting on—the—ground conservation efforts such as an initiative of National Geographic Explorer and Photo Ark. As Sartore says, “The sounds of birds are the sounds of a healthy planet. When we save a bird or another species, we’re actually saving ourselves.” 32. How does the author introduce the topic? A. By clarifying a concept. B. By offering an example. C. By giving an explanation. D. By quoting a remark. 33. Which has the similar meaning with “outlets” in paragraph 2? A. Stores. B. Media. C. Exits. D. Books 34. What contributes to the sparrow’s survival? A. A funding program from the government. B. An ark of animal photos in the magazine. C. A unique initiative for species protection. D. A joint effort from different professionals. 35. What does Sartore want to convey in the last paragraph? A. The urgency of species’ protection. B. The promotion of cooperative methods. C. The importance of coexistence. D. The situation of human survival. 12 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·淮安市·期末统考) D Most people have probably run into this problem. When you’re traveling, you want to take a photo to capture a moment, but you’re alone or your friend is a poor photographer. Now with the help of social media platforms, a “travel-along photographer” can take this worry off your list. A travel-along photographer is like a travel companion who takes photos for you for an hour or two while accompanying you to the destination of your choice. Due to this year’s travel boom and social media, such photographers have grown in popularity. “With social media platforms, every photographer can advertise for themselves and be seen,” said Shi Xinqi, a 22-year-old part-time photographer from Xiamen, Fujian province. In the past month, Shi has photographed over 30 clients. Rui Changchang, 27, agrees. Social media platforms help him be seen and find what he has been looking for over the years. Rui used to be a fashion photographer for celebrities, but he didn’t feel the fundamental joy that he thought photography should create. From the lighting and clothing to the professional models, everything was from an assembly line. Now, he’s a full-time photographer who spends most of his time at Universal Studios in Beijing. “It’s very fascinating to help complete strangers become comfortable in front of the camera and capture a joyful moment for them.” Rui believes that capturing connections between people is what makes photos so touching. But this is not a one-way service. When photographers capture these moments for their customers, they also learn something about themselves. “Most of my customers are women. I often describe them as the ‘beauty and power of women’,” said Shi, relating one experience with a customer in her 30s. Shi asked her if she had any regrets in her life—to which she replied that she had none. “That woman was so confident and determined. She helped relieve my anxiety about aging.” said Shi. However, this booming industry also has a dark side. For travel-along photographers, there are no industry standards or measures to ensure the rights of all parties. Even though the photographers are from the same city, their pricing is dramatically different. 32. What does a travel-along photographer mainly do? A. Run social media platforms. B. Take worries off a traveler’s list. C. Take pictures of a traveler along the way. D. Accompany a traveler to the destination. 33. How is paragraph 4 developed? A. By drawing conclusions. B. By giving a definition. C. By listing examples. D. By making a contrast. 34. What does paragraph 5 intend to tell us? A. The services offered by the photographers. B. The benefits enjoyed by the photographers. C. The moments captured by camera. D. The communication promoted by customers 35. What is the author’s attitude towards the industry? A. Favorable. B. Objective. C. Indifferent. D. Negative. 13 (2023-2024学年高二上学期·盐城市五校联盟·期末联考) D Fathers can give their children an educational advantage at primary school by reading, drawing and playing with them, according to a newly published report. Research led by the University of Leeds has found that children do better at primary school if their fathers regularly spend time with them on interactive engagement activities like reading, playing, telling stories, drawing and singing. Analysing primary school test scores for five- and seven-year-olds, the researchers used a representative sample of nearly 5,000 mother-father households in England from the Millenium Cohort Study. According to the research, dads who regularly drew, played and read with their three-year-olds helped their children do better at school by age five. Dads being involved at age five also helped improve scores in seven-year-olds’ Key Stage Assessments. Dr Helen Norman, who led the research, said, “Mothers still tend to assume the primary care r role and therefore tend to do the most childcare, but if fathers enthusiastically engage in childcare too, it significantly increases the likelihood of children getting better grades in primary school. This is why encouraging and supporting fathers to share childcare with the mother, from an early stage in the child’s life, is critical.” Dads’ involvement impacted positively on their children’s school achievement regardless of the child’s gender(性别), race, age in the school year and household income, according to the report. There were different effects when mums and dads took part in the same activities—the data showed that mums had more of an impact on young children’s emotional and social behaviors than educational achievement. The researchers recommend that dads carve out as much time as they can to engage in interactive activities with their children each week. For busy, working dads, even just ten minutes a day could potentially have educational benefits$$