上海市闵行区七宝中学2024-2025学年高二下学期期中英语测试卷

七宝中学2024-2025学年第二学期高二年级英语期中试卷 I. Listening Comprehension Section A Directions: In Part A, you will hear ten short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. The conversations and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a conversation and the question about it, read the four possible answers on your paper, and decide which one is the best answer to the question you have heard. 1. A. The photograph is not good enough to send. B. The photograph was not taken at the Grand Canyon. C. They already sent Mary a photograph of their vacation. D. Sending pictures through the mail is too expensive. 2. A. She has not yet received her grade on the quiz. B. She did better on the quiz than the man did. C. She did not have to take the quiz. D. She did not do well on the quiz. 3. A. She deserves the zero. B. She is right to be angry. C. She should have gone on the field trip. D. She should have asked to be excused from the trip. 4. A. The woman should call Bill to check his schedule. B. The woman should have left for the airport earlier. C. The woman does not need to rush to meet Bill. D. Traffic near the airport could delay the woman’s arrival. 5. A. He wants to live off campus. B. Living space in the dorm is crowded. C. There are only a few apartments available off campus. D. There are advantages and disadvantages to living off campus. 6. A. Mail the woman’s bill. B. Drive to the woman’s house. C. Buy stamps at the post office. D. Pick up a package from the post off. 7. A. Turn the music off. B. Play a different style of music. C. Turn down the volume of the music. D. Listen to music in a different room. 8. A. He has no definite plans. B. He usually works on weekends. C. He has to work with his brother. D. His plans depend on the woman. 9. A. It took a long time to finish the building. B. He did not know the hotel had a restaurant. C. He was too busy to notice the opening of the hotel. D. He would like to meet the woman for brunch next Sunday. 10. A. Wait until later to eat. B. Go to the cafeteria without her. C. Bring her some food from the cafeteria. D. Meet her at the cafeteria. Section B You will hear two short passages and one longer conversation, and you will be asked several questions on each of the passages and the conversation. The passage and the conversation will be read twice, but the questions will be spoken only once. When you hear a question read the four possible answers on your paper and decide which one would be the best answer to the question you have heard. Questions 11 through 13 are based on the following talk. 11. A. Upset. B. Puzzled. C. Hopeful. D. Excited. 12. A. He seldom stayed at home. B. He used to work for a travelling circus. C. He never told jokes in front of his daughter. D. He brought home whatever animal he was offered. 13. A. The animals in Chester Zoo. B. The history of the UK’s zoos without bars. C. The man who built the UK’s first bar-free zoo. D. The restoration of George Mottershead’s old residence. Questions 14 through 16 are based on the following passage. 14. A. It contained 40 pictures. B. It was first released in 1987. C. It was turned into a TV program in 1982. D. It enjoyed greater popularity years ago than now. 15. A. It reveals people’s memories of The Snowman. B. It is intended to promote the book The Snowman. C. Its 2,626 photos all show people watching the animation. D. Its 2626 photos all show people making their own snowman. 16. A. Raymond Briggs’s. B. Quentin Blake’s. C. Chris Riddell’s. D. Helen Marshall’s. Questions 17 through 20 are based on the following conversation, 17. A. A famous photographer. B. Photographic processes in the 1800’s C. A new museum. D. Photographic equipment used in the 1800’s. 18. A. Her subject’s home. B. Her subject’s social status. C. Her subject’s personality. D. Her subject’s role in history. 19. A. Backlighting. B. Soft focus C. Slow motion. D. Flash. 20. A. Children. B. Historical scenes. C. Well-known people. D. Landscapes. II. Grammar and Vocabulary Section A (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. European’s greatest designs Ever played with Lego? Visited Ikea? Read the Moomin stories? _____1_____ the answer to any of these is yes, then you have enjoyed Nordic design. The Nordic region, located in the far north of Europe, _____2_____ (comprise) Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Lego is a Danish company; Ikea shops first opened in Sweden; and the Moomins started life in Finland. Now, a new exhibition _____3_____ the V&A Museum of Childhood, in London, is celebrating this region. Century of the Child: Nordic Design for Children 1900 to Today will take visitors through the 100 years _____4_____ proved to be a productive period for children and playtime. One of the things you can see—and play with—is a mini puckleball pitch. This unpredictable ball game from Sweden uses a bumpy surface, crooked lines and different-sized goals ____5____ (ensure) that people of all ages and abilities can play at the same level. Other unusual objects include a toy made from fish bones and a doll’s house made from forest waste, _____6_____ of which demonstrates creative ways of using eco-friendly materials. There is a section in the exhibition ____7____ (explore) how a “junk playground” in 1940s Denmark inspired adventure playgrounds in the UK. The exhibition’s title comes from a book _____8_____ (write) in 1900 by a Swedish author called Ellen Key. She believed that during the 20th century, adults _____9_____ (focus) more attention on their children than they had in the previous century. Key wanted adults to make more of an effort to improve children’s creativity and education. She died in 1926, but would no doubt have been proud to see _____10_____ her ideas helped shape this exhibition. (B) 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. Why Everyone Is Lonely One of the reasons why we tend not to make friends as often as we might come down to a powerful background idea ____11____ full destructive force we may not even be aware of: the belief that any decent person already has all the friends they need. Somewhere in our minds, the notion has been lodged that only very sad and incapable people would — at this stage in their lives — still have a space in their social agenda for a newcomer. Almost everyone else — anyone worthy ____12____ (know), talented, interesting or good — would long ago have acquired the gang to which they are now continually and hopelessly connected. ____13____ this punishing idea misses is the extent to which a feeling of loneliness and disenchantment (幻灭感) is in reality an ongoing and universal possibility, in no way limited to ____14____ of reduced appeal. Right now, the enchanting actor is (despite the crowds) perhaps lonely; ____15____ is the celebrated concert pianist, the renowned biologist, the skilled airline pilot, the miraculous neurosurgeon and that rather nice-looking person you have just spotted in the corner of the room ____16____ (laugh) animatedly with a group of fashionable companions. It’s open to anyone of sensitivity and charm to fail to find the right sort of allies, ____17____ (outgrow) their friends from school or university, to not have landed on agreeable spirits at work and therefore to be spending a lot of their evenings on their own. And we can know this for certain of other people ____18____ we know it from a very reliable source: ourselves. Other people who know us at a social level almost certainly find it hard to imagine the degree to which we are exposed to loneliness and ____19____ we would still like to locate a wise, tender, funny and interesting new friend. The next time we spot an interesting person, we ____20____ stop disobey the moral of our own lives. We don’t have exactly the right people in our social circle — and nor, most probably, do they. So we can afford to drop our false background ideas of social life — and go up and say hello. (A) Directions: In this section, fill the blanks using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need. A. complex B. demands C. falsely D. extensive E. head-on F. promising G. topic H. transfer I. shape J. accurately K. self-fulfilling Writing as a Skill A realistic attitude about writing must build on the idea that writing is a skill, not a “natural gift”. Like any skill, it can be learned as long as you have the determination to learn, and give yourself ____21____ practice. People often fear that they are the only ones for whom writing is unbearably difficult. Such people typically say, “I am not any good at writing.” Often, the result of this attitude is that people try to avoid writing. It becomes a(n) ____22____ prediction: their writing fails chiefly because they have brainwashed themselves into believing they don’t have the “natural talent”. Many people find it difficult to do the intense, active thinking that clear writing ____23____. It is frustrating to discover how much of a challenge it is to ____24____ thoughts and feelings from one’s hand onto the page. But writing is not an automatic process. For almost everyone, competent writing comes from plain hard work-determination, sweat, and ____25____ battle. Additionally, many people ____26____ believe that writing should flow in a straight line from the writer’s head onto the written page. But a finished paper seldom comes out in the first draft. The truth is writing is a process of discovery involving a series of steps, which are very often a zigzag journey. For example, Diane Woods had been assigned to write about an annoyance in everyday life. She did not know what specific annoyances she would choose; instead, she just began writing about them in general. One of those annoyances was traffic, which seemed ____27____, so she began putting down details that came to her. One detail was the traffic she had to deal with in going to the movies. That made her think of the traffic in the parking lot at the theater ____28____. At that point, it dawned on her that, instead of traffic, moviegoing itself was an annoyance. She switched direction in midstream and began writing down ideas and details about moviegoing. The point is writing is often a process of continuing discovery. You may be working on a(n) ____29____ sentence and realize suddenly that it could be your concluding thought. Writers frequently do not know their exact destination as they begin to write. Very often they discover the direction and _____30_____ of a paper during the process of writing. (B) Directions: In this section, fill the blanks using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need. A. complete B. contact C. credited D. dominant E. modified F. formerly G. inserting H. presence I. long-term J. exclusively K. reserve Jane Goodall’s Chimp Behavior Discoveries Goodall used her newfound acceptance in the chimpanzee group to establish what she termed the “banana club,” a daily systematic feeding method she used to gain trust and to acquire a more thorough understanding of everyday chimpanzee behavior. Using this method, she became closely acquainted with a majority of the chimps in the ____31____. She imitated their behaviors, spent time in the trees and ate their foods. By remaining in almost constant ____32____ with the chimps, Goodall discovered a number of previously unobserved behaviors: chimps had a complex social system, ____33____ with ritualized behaviors and primitive but recognizable communication methods, including a primitive “language” system with more than 20 individual sounds. She was ____34____ with making the first recorded observations of chimpanzees eating meat and using and making tools. Toolmaking had been thought to be a(n) ____35____ human trait. Goodall also noted that chimpanzees threw stones as weapons, used touch and embraces to comfort one another and developed ____36____ familial bonds. The male played no active role in family life but is part of the group’s social layering—The chimpanzee “caste” (种姓) system placed the ____37____ males at the top, with the lower castes often acting submissively in their ____38____, trying to flatter them to avoid possible harm. The male’s rank was often related to the intensity of his entrance performance at feedings and other gatherings. Challenging the belief that chimps were entirely vegetarian, Goodall witnessed chimps stalking, killing and eating large insects, birds and some bigger animals. On one occasion, she recorded acts of cannibalism (同类相食). In another instance, she observed chimps ____39____ blades of grass into termite (白蚁) hills to get insects onto the blade. In true toolmaker fashion, they ____40____ the grass to achieve a better fit, then used the grass as a long-handled spoon to eat the termites. III. Reading Comprehension Section A Directions: For each blank in the following passage 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. Why do we mourn public figures? On 8 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96. At the time of writing, the UK is in the midst of a prolonged period of public mourning. Regardless of your thoughts about the monarchy, it’s undeniable that countless people were genuinely saddened by the Queen’s passing, and that many have been experiencing profound grief ____41____ it. This is a fascinating phenomenon, because grief is a complex and demanding process. So, why would so many ____42____ grief over the loss of someone they’ve likely never met, and who almost certainly had no idea that they existed? Rather than an oddity, such grief is actually ____43____. It’s because of how our brains work. Humans are incredibly social creatures. It’s the basis for our dominance of the planet. We form ____44____ connections with other individuals like no other species. But despite what many assume, this need not be a mutual thing. It’s entirely possible for us to deeply and emotionally ____45____ someone who doesn’t even know we’re there. Parasocial relationships are the basis of ____46____ culture and every sort of fandom. After all, it’s entirely possible for people to develop deep and powerful emotions for individuals who don’t even exist. If we take this into account, it suddenly doesn’t seem so odd then that people would be able to ____47____ genuine affection for a real individual, especially one who may have been a(n) ____48____ of their world for decades. ____49____, they would also then experience grief as a result of the death of that person. And because human sociability is so important, we’re often keen to express that grief with others, especially with those who share similar feelings. It’s another way of ____50____, of reinforcing our remaining connections, at a time when we’ve lost one. But humans aren’t just social. We’re also hierarchical (有层级的), we instinctively. ____51____ status, like being looked up to by others, and looking up to others in turn. We learn from others and the examples they provide. From back in the early days of our species, where aspiring to be like the best hunters or warriors was a useful survival trait, to the present day, we ____52____ to look up to, identify with and want to imitate the visibly more successful members of our society. While the death of a high-profile and beloved individual often leads to widespread public mourning, the Queen’s passing is ____53____ on an even more profound level. This is because the Queen was visibly the head of British public life for seven decades. For someone living in the UK, she was just ‘there’, all day every day. On our money, our stamps, in the anthem, involved in all our laws and politics. She was essentially ____54____. And her death showed us that one of the parts of our world which had seemed so ____55____ and unchanging, wasn’t. This made our world feel suddenly and fundamentally more uncertain. 41. A. in addition to B. as a result of C. in return for D. in contrast to 42. A. experience B. control C. disguise D. overcome 43. A. bitter B. genuine C. endless D. commonplace 44. A. apparent B. casual C. close D. emotional 45. A. refer to B. agree with C. invest in D. appeal to 46. A. celebrity B. mainstream C. street D. youth 47. A. return B. develop C. betray D. win 48. A. image B. spokesperson C. guest D. part 49. A. Scarcely B. Temporarily C. Accordingly D. Unfairly 50. A. surviving B. improving C. mourning D. bonding 51. A. examine B. question C. restore D. value 52. A. afford B. incline C. endure D. refuse 53. A. influential B. mysterious C. peaceful D. natural 54. A. international B. ideal C. inescapable D. virtuous 55. A. academic B. reliable C. diplomatic D. unreal Section B Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have read. (A) For years, spring in our town was welcomed by Leon and Jo Martin, who owned the Dairy Queen. Every year, after their winter stay in Florida, they would post the words “Now Hiring” on their sign. I would walk past, see the sign, see Leon and Jo readying for their spring opening, and feel winter’s departure. It was as accurate an indication of spring as any calendar. When they died and their children sold the Dairy Queen to an out-of-town outfit who kept it open year-round, it threw off our town’s circadian rhythms (生物钟). Something terrible. We’re still not sure when spring begins. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. When the implement store on the west edge of town, where Johnston’s IGA grocery store used to be, stops selling snowplows and starts selling lawn mowers, that’s a pretty good sign winter is coming to an end. If they should drop the ball, Frank Gladden is sure to stand at our Quaker meeting and announce that volunteers are needed for our spring fish fry. Frank’s announcement is as reliable as any clock and invariably mixed with worry and regret that this might be the last year of the fish fry if volunteers aren’t forthcoming. “We’re not getting any younger,” he announces. Frank is 82 years old, but he’s been saying that since 1961, so we Quakers aren’t alarmed. The Fairfield Friends Fish Fry is as constant as sunrise. But let us suppose both the implement store and Frank Gladden neglect their duties and we are cast adrift, unaware of spring’s arrival. We would then have to look and see whether Bill Eddy, our town’s plumber, was wearing a coat. When the first leaf falls to the ground in the autumn, Bill pulls on his Carhartt coat and doesn’t remove it until spring. I’ve known Bill since we were in first grade together, so I know well about his habits. He wears that Carhartt everywhere, inside and outside. There are other signs of spring if one is watchful. The deer lighten in color, the dog sheds, the buds swell, the snow melts on the south hillside, and the bloodroot in our woodlot pushes out its petals. The calf (牛犊) appears, following its mother because of hunger. Who needs a calendar when a calf is nearby? 56. What can be learned about the Dairy Queen from the first paragraph? A. It was moved to Florida. B. It used to be closed in winter. C. It is now owned by Leon and Jo’s children. D. It has several branches out of the town. 57. According to the writer, which of the following is a sign that winter is over? A. The deer turns into a darker color. B. Bill Eddy stops wearing his Carhartt coat. C. The Quaker meeting starts to call for volunteers. D. Johnston’s IGA grocery store starts to sell lawn mowers. 58. By “as constant as sunrise”, the writer means that the Fairfield Friends Fish Fry ________. A. has a long history B. makes excellent fried fish C. opens very early every day D. is sure to continue its business 59. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage? A. Why I Love Spring B. Every Changing Spring C. How I Know It’s Spring D. Spring: All Comes to Life (B) WORD OF THE DAY March 13, 2025 curfew noun | KER-fyoo Definition Curfew refers to a law or order that requires people to be indoors after a certain time at night, as well as to the period of time when such an order or law is in effect. Chiefly in the United States. //No one is allowed on the streets during the curfew. //Lana has a 10 o’clock curfew, so we need to bring her home right after the movie. SEE THE ENTRY > Examples “[LEW] Alcindor narrowed his college choice to Michigan, Columbia, St. John’s, and UCLA. He liked Columbia as the chance to attend school walking distance to Harlem and a subway ride to the jazz clubs he had to leave early as a high schooler to make curfew.” — Scott Howard-Cooper, Kingdom on Fire: Kareem, Wooden, Walton, and the Turbulent Days of the UCLA Basketball Dynasty, 2024 Did you know? Curfews set by parents (and kept or broken by their offspring) do not echo the origins of the word curfew in any noticeable way—if they did, they’d need to at least hint at the sound of a bell. When curfew was first used in the 14th century, it referred to the sounding of a bell at evening to alert people that they should cover their hearth (壁炉) fires for the night—a necessary warning, as many European houses in the Middle Ages were close enough to each other that fires could spread easily from one to the next. The word came to English from Anglo-French, in which the signal was called coverfeu, a compound of covrir, meaning “to cover,” and feu, “fire.” Even when hearth fires were no longer regulated, many towns had other rules that called for ringing an evening bell, including one that required people to be off the streets by a given time, a development that granted curfew permission to go out and about with a broader meaning. SEE MORE WORDS OF THE DAY > 60. Where do you most probably find this text? A. Real-time transcripts of a podcast program. B. A scholar column in a literary magazine. C. An enrollment guide of a language course. D. A link in an online dictionary application. 61. Which of the following is true according to the text? A. The word curfew was coined in Anglo-French to hint the sound of an evening bell. B. In Middle Ages, fires spread easily simply because the hearth fires were not covered. C. Curfew’s modern use doesn’t reflect its origin as hearth fires were no longer regulated. D. Originally, the word curfew was a compound noun signaling extinguished fireplaces. 62. Which of the following examples is an American usage of Curfew? A. Protesters disobeyed the curfew and took to the streets. B. Why do you have to go home now if you don’t have a curfew? C. The dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the army was lifted after the war. D. It’s against the criminal law of the state to be in the street after the curfew. (C) ①Along with 3 million other workers, Eamonn, a civil servant, used to commute into London daily. It was once an easy trip of 30 minutes by train from Coulsdon South to Victoria. But after years of strikes and driver shortages at Southern Rail, the operator on that line, getting to work became a lottery—a train running on time felt like a “luxury for special occasions only”, he complains, With Southern cancelling up to 350 trains a day, in one three-week period last autumn he managed to get to the office on only two days. Eventually he moved to Liverpool to escape his awful commute. ②Many other Londoners are changing the way they work because of the railways’ poor, pricey service. On January 2nd rail fares across Britain rose by an average of 3.4%, the largest increase since 2013. Over the past decade fares have risen twice as fast as salaries. Falling subsidies (补贴) mean that passengers now pick up 70% of the rail network’s costs, up from 50% ten years ago. ③Until now, passengers have put up with it. Since the industry was privatized in the mid-1990s, the number of rail journeys in the south-east has increased by 130%, though fares have risen by 45% in real terms. But that seems to be changing. The year to April 2017 saw the first big drop in passenger numbers in the south-east. ④Many rail executives blame a slowdown related to Brexit for falling traffic. But that doesn’t explain why the drop-off has been highest in the south-east. Indeed, since referendum (全名公投) in June 2016, output in London has grown faster than in any other British region and employment has risen. ⑤More likely it is high fares and unreliable service that are persuading commuters to change how they work, says Stephen Joseph of the Campaign for Better Transport. In the six months to September, journeys made on season tickets—which save money for daily commuters—fell by a tenth, while journeys made using single-use tickets continued to rise. The trend is strongest in the south-east, where fares are highest and services heavily disrupted. With more part-time jobs and technology that lets people work from home, going to the office every day is falling out of fashion. Employers, facing high rents, are keen to encourage this. The amount of space per employee in the City of London has fallen from 17 square metres in the 1990s to just 11 now. ⑥The government is considering limiting fare increases more strictly in the future. That would cut train operators’ profit further. Mr. Joseph suggests that moving to a simpler fare structure, with season tickets for part-time commuters, could draw more people back onto trains, as such schemes have elsewhere in Europe. 63. According to the first paragraph, what does Eamonn complain about in terms of the train service? A. Punctuality. B. Facilities. C. Interval. D. Routes. 64. Which of the following statements is true according to paragraphs 2 and 3? A. Fares rose by 45%in real terms in the year to April 2017. B. Rail fares across Britain have increased by 3.4% since the year of 2013. C. Fewer people in the south-east commute by train now than in the 1990s. D. Fares cover a bigger part of the rail network’s costs now than a decade ago. 65. The writer mentions the growth of output in London in paragraph 4 in order to ________. A. reveal that London has been recovering since the 2016 referendum B. argue that it was not the slowdown that led to the failing traffic C. illustrate how Brexit affected Britain’s economy D. cast doubt on the rise of employment in London 66. What can be inferred from paragraphs 5 and 6? A. The government has taken train operators’ profit too seriously. B. The number of people commuting to work every day is on the decline. C. Single-use tickets are just available to part-time commuters in the south-east. D. Stephen Joseph thinks it necessary to stick to the current policy of season tickets. (D) When you pick up your phone in the morning, you begin generating the data that make up Silicon Valley’s most important resource. That, at least, is how we ought to think about the role of data-creation in the economy, according to a new economics paper. Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting better all the time, and is expected to transform a host of industries, say the authors. But, in order to learn to drive a car or recognize a face, the algorithms must usually be trained on massive amounts of data. Internet firms gather these data from users every time they click on a search result, say, or issue a command to a virtual assistant, like Siri or Alex. People “pay” for useful free services by providing firms with the data they desire. These data become part of the firms’ capital, and as such, a fearsome source of competitive advantage. Would-be startups that might challenge internet giants cannot train their AIs without access to the data only those giants possess. Their best hope is often to be acquired by those very same giants, adding to the problem of uncompetitive markets. That for now, AI’s contributions to productivity growth are small, the authors say, is partly because of the free-data model, which limits the quality of data gathered. Firms trying to develop useful applications for AI must hope that the data they have are sufficient, or come up with ways to cheating users into providing them with better information at no cost. Even so, as Al improves, the amount of work made likely to be displaced by technology grows, and ever more of the value generated in the economy belongs to profitable firms rather than workers. As the authors point out, the share of GDP paid out to workers in wages and salaries — once thought to be relatively stable — has already been decline over the past few decades. To tackle these problems, they have an innovative proposal. Rather than being regarded as capital, data should be treated as labour — and, more specifically, regarded as the property of those who generate such information, unless they agree to provide it to firms in exchange for payment. In such a world, user data might be sold multiple times to multiple firms, reducing the extent to which data sets serve as barriers to entry. Payments to users for their data would help spread the wealth generated by AI. Firms could also potentially generate better data by paying. Rather than guess what a person is up to as they wander around a shopping centre, for example, firms could ask individuals to share information on which shops were visited and which items were viewed, in exchange for payment. Perhaps most ambitiously, the authors think that data labour could come to be seen as useful work, with the same sort of dignity as paid employment, a desirable side-effect in a possible future of mass automation. 67. According to the new paper, what do people pay when they get a satisfactory search result? A. The data. B. The time. C. The service. D. The command. 68. Which of the following is one of “these problems” (in paragraph 6)? A. Start-ups are struggling not to be acquired by giants. B. There is a decline in how much AI engineers earn. C. The quality of data is far from satisfactory. D. The competition for data is much too fierce. 69. Which of the following is true according to the proposal in the new paper? A. The internet industry should move faster to mass automation. B. AI firms should break the barriers to enter the industry. C. People should earn money by sharing their data. D. Data should be labelled with more properties. 70. What, in essence, does the new paper put forward? A. An attempt that can be made to gather better information at the lowest cost. B. A method by which Al firms make a profit by using data more economically. C. A perspective on the relationship between internet companies and their users. D. An approach to thinking about the role data plays in technology development. Section C Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. Iron Cooks Robots have arrived in American restaurants and hotels for the same reasons they first arrived on factory floors. ____71____ Labor, meanwhile, is getting expensive, as some cities and states pass laws raising the minimum wage. “We think we’ve hit the point where labor-wage rates are now making automation of those tasks make a lot more sense,” Bob Wright, the chief operations officer of the fast-food chain Wendy’s, said in a conference call with investors last February, referring to jobs that feature “repetitive production tasks.” Wendy’s and McDonald’s are in the process of installing self-service kiosks (售货亭) in locations across the country, allowing customers to order without ever talking to an employee. ____72____ The international chain CaliBurger, for example will soon install Flippy, a robot that can make 150 burgers an hour. John Miller, the CEO of Cali Group, which owns the chain, says employees don’t like working in the kitchen. Once the robots are sweating there, human employees will be free to interact with customers in more-targeted ways, bringing them extra napkins and asking them how they’re enjoying their burgers. How many employees, though, do you need working in the cafe? ____73____ Will companies like CaliBurger see sufficient value in employing human greeters and soup-and-sandwich deliverers to keep those positions around long-term? The experience of Eatsa may be instructive. The start-up restaurant, based in San Francisco, allows customers to order its quinoa bowls and salads on their smartphone or an in-store tablet and then pick up their order from a white wall of cubbies (小房间)—an Automat for the app age. Initially, two greeters were stationed alongside the cubbies to welcome and direct customers. ____74____ So the company now employs a single greeter in its restaurants. A. The early success of the kiosks suggests that, at least when ordering fast food, customers prize speed over high-touch customer service. B. Business owners insist that robots will take over work that is dirty, dangerous, or just dull, enabling humans to focus on other tasks. C. The better hope for workers might be that automation helps the food-service industry continue to develop. D. But over time, customers relied less frequently on the greeters. E. The cost of machines has fallen significantly in recent years, dropping 40 percent since 2005. F. This has typically been the story of automation: Technology eliminates old jobs, but it also creates new ones. IV. Summary Writing (95) 75. Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible. Why Do You Find It So Hard to Not Multitask? Most of us do multitasking almost daily. But it’s time to change that. Let’s take the smartphone for example. On average you check your phone 110 times a day—that means you’re spending 23 days every year glued to your smartphone! How productive do you think that makes you? Habits encouraging you to multitask make you unproductive. But it’s hard to let go of these habits because you’ve conditioned your brain to send misleading signals to your body. Research has shown that when you multitask “successfully”, you activate the reward mechanism in your brain that releases dopamine, the happy hormone. You feel so good that you believe you’re being effective and this further encourages your multitasking habit. This rush can also make you overly optimistic, less careful about the work you do and more likely to make mistakes, Multitaskers basically get addicted to this rush which leads them to believe they are being effective when in fact they’re not. Since our brains can only effectively focus on one thing at a time, monotasking is the way for you to accomplish more in less time. Research has suggested you’re 50% quicker on average to accomplish a task if you monotask, and you’re also 50% less likely to make errors. So it’s a win-win for everyone! You’ll also be able to appreciate things on a deeper level and get more enjoyment from them when you’re focused. Now you’re probably desperate to find out how to get rid of this multitasking habit so you can find real productivity. There is no easy answer. You simply have to commit to it and have the self discipline to stick to one task at a time. Just say to yourself: When I walk, I walk. When I talk to someone, I talk to someone. Focus on the one thing you are doing. And like that, you’ve mastered monotasking ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ V. Translation Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets. 76. 人们普遍认为，我们是否对他人的处境有同理心，是一个可能决定我们是否会向陌生人伸出援手的主要因素。(determine, reach) （汉译英） ________________________________________________________ 77. 在一个寒冷的周二早上，亨利按照老师的要求打印了一份核心词汇用法的学习资料，他决心要背完至少一半，结果却发现自己完全没有学习的兴致。(request n., only, mood) （汉译英） ________________________________________________________ 78. 为了确保运动员们能够在奥运会的激烈竞争中生存下来，教练团队己精心安排他们遵循严格的训练计划，以防因不适应比赛环境而出现意外。(survive, arrange, in case) (汉译英) ________________________________________________________ 79. 汤姆从未想过他的同事把地图忘在了车里，让他们困在树林中。随着夜幕降临，他们没有相互抱怨，而是保持冷静，并最终找到了附近的一座小木屋过夜。(occur, leave, end) （汉译英） ________________________________________________________ 七宝中学2024-2025学年第二学期高二年级英语期中试卷 I. Listening Comprehension Section A Directions: In Part A, you will hear ten short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. The conversations and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a conversation and the question about it, read the four possible answers on your paper, and decide which one is the best answer to the question you have heard. 1. A. The photograph is not good enough to send. B. The photograph was not taken at the Grand Canyon. C. They already sent Mary a photograph of their vacation. D. Sending pictures through the mail is too expensive. 2. A. She has not yet received her grade on the quiz. B. She did better on the quiz than the man did. C. She did not have to take the quiz. D. She did not do well on the quiz. 3. A. She deserves the zero. B. She is right to be angry. C. She should have gone on the field trip. D. She should have asked to be excused from the trip. 4. A. The woman should call Bill to check his schedule. B. The woman should have left for the airport earlier. C. The woman does not need to rush to meet Bill. D. Traffic near the airport could delay the woman’s arrival. 5. A. He wants to live off campus. B. Living space in the dorm is crowded. C. There are only a few apartments available off campus. D. There are advantages and disadvantages to living off campus. 6. A. Mail the woman’s bill. B. Drive to the woman’s house. C. Buy stamps at the post office. D. Pick up a package from the post off. 7. A. Turn the music off. B. Play a different style of music. C. Turn down the volume of the music. D. Listen to music in a different room. 8. A. He has no definite plans. B. He usually works on weekends. C. He has to work with his brother. D. His plans depend on the woman. 9 A. It took a long time to finish the building. B. He did not know the hotel had a restaurant. C. He was too busy to notice the opening of the hotel. D. He would like to meet the woman for brunch next Sunday. 10. A. Wait until later to eat. B. Go to the cafeteria without her. C. Bring her some food from the cafeteria. D. Meet her at the cafeteria. Section B You will hear two short passages and one longer conversation, and you will be asked several questions on each of the passages and the conversation. The passage and the conversation will be read twice, but the questions will be spoken only once. When you hear a question read the four possible answers on your paper and decide which one would be the best answer to the question you have heard. Questions 11 through 13 are based on the following talk. 11. A. Upset. B. Puzzled. C. Hopeful. D. Excited. 12. A. He seldom stayed at home. B. He used to work for a travelling circus. C. He never told jokes in front of his daughter. D. He brought home whatever animal he was offered. 13. A. The animals in Chester Zoo. B. The history of the UK’s zoos without bars. C. The man who built the UK’s first bar-free zoo. D. The restoration of George Mottershead’s old residence. Questions 14 through 16 are based on the following passage. 14. A. It contained 40 pictures. B. It was first released in 1987. C. It was turned into a TV program in 1982. D It enjoyed greater popularity years ago than now. 15. A. It reveals people’s memories of The Snowman. B. It is intended to promote the book The Snowman. C. Its 2,626 photos all show people watching the animation. D. Its 2,626 photos all show people making their own snowman. 16. A. Raymond Briggs’s. B. Quentin Blake’s. C. Chris Riddell’s. D. Helen Marshall’s. Questions 17 through 20 are based on the following conversation, 17. A. A famous photographer. B. Photographic processes in the 1800’s C. A new museum. D. Photographic equipment used in the 1800’s. 18. A. Her subject’s home. B. Her subject’s social status. C. Her subject’s personality. D. Her subject’s role in history. 19. A. Backlighting. B. Soft focus C. Slow motion. D. Flash. 20. A. Children. B. Historical scenes. C. Well-known people. D. Landscapes. II. Grammar and Vocabulary Section A (A) 【1~10题答案】 【答案】1. If 2. comprises 3. at##in 4. that##which 5. to ensure 6. either 7. exploring 8. written 9. focused 10. how (B) 【11~20题答案】 【答案】11. whose 12. to be known 13. what 14. those 15. so 16. laughing 17. to have outgrown 18. because 19. how much 20. should (A) 【21~30题答案】 【答案】21. D 22. K 23. B 24. H 25. E 26. C 27. F 28. A 29. G 30. I (B) 【31~40题答案】 【答案】31. K 32. B 33. A 34. C 35. J 36. I 37. D 38. H 39. G 40. E III. Reading Comprehension Section A Directions: For each blank in the following passage 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. 【41~55题答案】 【答案】41. B 42. A 43. D 44. D 45. C 46. A 47. B 48. D 49. C 50. D 51. D 52. B 53. A 54. C 55. B Section B Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have read. (A) 【56~59题答案】 【答案】56. B 57. B 58. D 59. C (B) 【60~62题答案】 【答案】60. D 61. A 62. B (C) 【63~66题答案】 【答案】63. A 64. D 65. B 66. B (D) 【67~70题答案】 【答案】67. A 68. C 69. C 70. C Section C Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. 【71~74题答案】 【答案】71. E 72. B 73. A 74. D IV. Summary Writing (95) 【75题答案】 【答案】Multitasking reduces productivity and leads to mistakes due to the brain's addiction to dopamine-driven multitasking rushes. Monotasking, focusing on one task at a time, increases efficiency and accuracy while enhancing enjoyment. Breaking multitasking habits requires self-discipline and commitment to single-task focus. V. Translation Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets. 【76题答案】 【答案】It is generally believed that whether we have empathy for others’ situations is a main factor that may determine whether we reach out to strangers. 【77题答案】 【答案】On a cold Tuesday morning, Henry printed a piece of study material on the usage of core vocabulary at the request of his teacher, determined to memorize at least half of it, only to find that he was in no mood for studying. 【78题答案】 【答案】In order to ensure that athletes can survive the fierce competition in the Olympic Games, the coaching team has arranged for them to follow a strict training plan in case any accident occurs due to their inadaptability to the competition environment. 【79题答案】 【答案】It never occurred to Tom that his colleague had left the map in the car, leaving them stranded in the woods. As night fell, they didn’t complain to each other but stayed calm instead, and finally found a small cabin nearby to end the night. 第1页/共1页 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $