2025届上海市浦东新区高三下学期二模（期中）英语试卷

浦东新区2024学年度第二学期期中教学质量检测

高三英语试卷

（考试时间：105分钟  满分：115分）

I. Grammar and Vocabulary

Section A

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The power of the pen

Numerous studies highlight the psychological benefits of writing. For example, researchers found that participants who engaged in a six-week program of expressive writing improved their mental toughness.

In another study, researchers analyzed brain scans to see how writing about negative events affected the way such events (1)______ (process) and handled. They concluded that expressive writing might be an effective tool to address negative emotions and (2)______ writing about a past failure could improve learning.

Last year, brain researchers demonstrated that writing by hand (3)______  ______ typing with a keyboard promoted more complex brain connectivity, which was crucial for memory formation.

These findings suggest that the process of writing allows you (4)______ (clarify) thoughts and “internalize” them, thus increasing the benefits.

To cultivate the habit of writing, try the two tips.

         Write to people you love.

When you write with your audience in mind, you relate to them. Most importantly, you share something precious with loved ones. Think of how you felt the last time someone you cared about (5)______ (take) time to write you a heartfelt message. You can even use this as an opportunity to save relationships that need (6)______ (heal) or just to get an extra smile out of someone.

         Write appreciation notes at work.

When Doug Conant took over as CEO at Campbell’s, he transformed the company culture from unpleasant to award-winning. “Most cultures don’t do a good job of celebrating contributions, so I made (7)______ a practice to write thank-you notes to our employees.” Conant said, “Over 10 years, it amounted to more than 30,000 notes, (8)______ we had only 20,000 employees. Wherever I’d go in the world, you’d find my handwritten notes (9)______ (display) on employees’ bulletin boards(公告栏).”

In today’s digital world (10)______ most communication is electronic, writing heartfelt thank-you notes enhances emotional intelligence and strengthens relationships. It makes your workplace or home better.

Section B

Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once.

Note that there is one word more than you need.

How to prosper in an uncertain world

In an age of rapid change, our instinctive desire for certainty may be blinding us to its psychological costs. Humans naturally need answers and typically find uncertainty emotionally ___11___. It’s easy to feel anxiety for the future and see certainty as a lighthouse in a darkening time.

But a wave of new scientific discoveries reveals that learning to lean into uncertainty in times of rapid change is a promising ___12___ to mental distress, not a royal road to anxiety, as many of us assume. A growing body of evidence and a range of new interventions suggest that skillfully managing uncertainty in the face of what’s ___13___, new or unexpected is an effective treatment for anxiety. Researchers further observe it is a likely pathway to ___14___ toughness.

Tolerating and even delighting in uncertainty doesn’t merely help us to accept life’s unpredictability; it also ___15___ us to learn and adapt. Each day, the brain uses ___16___ mental models about how the world works, which are used to process a shifting environment. When we meet something unexpected, a neural(神经的) “prediction error” signals a ___17___ between what we assumed would occur and what our senses tell us.

Yet our uneasy sense of not knowing stimulates a host of ___18___ neural changes, including heightened attention, boosted working memory and sensitivity to new information. The brain is preparing to update our ___19___ of the world. Uncertainty offers the “opportunity for life to go in different directions,” says Stephanie Gorka of Ohio State University’s College of Medicine, “and that is fascinating.”

This is why being open to uncertainty is critical for mental well-being. Pioneering work led by Dr. Dugas who ___20___ the term “intolerance of uncertainty” and Nicholas Carleton shows that being intolerant of uncertainty increases exposure to mental health challenges such as anxiety, eating disorders and depression.

By learning to accept uncertainty, we not only enhance our mental power but also pave the way for personal growth and the discovery of new opportunities.

 

 

 

 

II. Reading Comprehension

Section A

Directions: For each blank in the following passages there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

Flowers are powerful symbols. People around the world use them to ___21___ festivals and significant life events. Lilies and tulips represent ___22___ during spring, a time of fresh beginnings; a bunch of roses on Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day conveys love. And year-round, no wedding or funeral is ___23___ without flowers.

Blooms are a ___24___ business, and the global cut flowers industry is worth up to $55 billion a year. But behind the beautiful flowers can be significant environmental and human ___25___. Here’s how the flower industry is impacting the planet.

The country that is undoubtedly the world’s largest ___26___ of cut flowers is the US, with a majority of imported flowers from Colombia and Ecuador. In Europe, most imported flowers sold there are from equatorial East Africa.

The single largest producer of cut flowers in the world is Colombia, which ___27___ an estimated 660 million stems(茎) in 2024. Other top producers are Ecuador, Sri Lanka and Kenya, the latter ___28___ one-third of all roses sold in the EU. Meanwhile, China is rapidly becoming a(n) ___29___ market in the global flower trade, driven by rising demands.

The global flower trade is rapid, which ___30___ the industry’s environmental footprint —the ideal is to get a bloom from field to vase in three to five days for a good profit. For Colombian producers, with farms mostly located near Bogotá’s international airport, flowers can lose 15 percent of their ___31___ for every extra day spent traveling.

Many of the flowers are grown in high-altitude(高海拔), industrial-scale greenhouses(for disease and humidity control), and these flower farms can cover an area of over 500 acres. Flowers are also thirsty plants, which ___32___ high water use and chemical runoff. ___33___, drought-stricken Lake Naivasha, the center of the industry in Kenya, has seen half of its water drawn off for use in flower greenhouses, according to some critics.

On top of pollutants and water use, flowers can ___34___ serious carbon emissions because of refrigeration and long-distance transport. In 2020, Valentine’s Day flowers grown in Colombia and flown to US airports produced some 360,000 metric tons of CO2. To put that into perspective, that’s ___35___ equivalent to 78,000 cars driven for one year. Even after flowers are flown into the US, they’re sometimes trucked thousands of miles in gas-inefficient trucks from centers such as Miami and Los Angeles to locations across the nation.

21. A. sustain B. trace C. restore D. mark

22. A. cycle B. tradition C. renewal D. freedom

23. A. visible B. dramatic C. complete D. unique

24. A. booming B. diverse C. struggling D. risky

25. A. costs B. resources C. activities D. objectives

26. A. grower B. consumer C. assessor D. distributor

27. A. examined B. removed C. preserved D. exported

28. A. supplying B. fertilizing C. arranging D. exchanging

29. A. emerging B. declining C. exclusive D. protective

30. A. neutralises B. theorises C. quantifies D. intensifies