上海市七宝中学2025-2026学年高三上学期9月开学考试英语试题

                七宝 2025学年 第一学期 高三英语开学练习          2025. 9

I. Listening Comprehension

Section A (1*10=10)

Directions: In Section 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. On the bus.   B. On the ship.  C. On the plane.  D. On the train.

2. A. 54 dollars.   B. 66 dollars.   C. 60 dollars.   D. 17.6 dollars

3. A. Get up slowly.        B. Adjust her position. 

3. Stretch legs for a while.      D. Shake her body frequently. 

4. A. Lily will drive her to the airport.     B. She won’t skip the special meeting.  

C. She backs up the manager’s plan.    D. Lily is available to attend the meeting.

5. A. To be a certified doctor.      B. To pursue advanced studies.

C. To get promotion in work.     D. To make full preparations for pregnancy.

6. A. The result of the survey is precise.    B. There are many errors in the survey.

C. Consumers are confident in themselves.   D. The statistics are relatively reliable.

7. A. It is costly but convenient.      B. He prefers a furnished one.

C. Its decoration is rather old.     D. He doesn’t like the paint and the carpet.

8. A. The woman is outspoken and straightforward.  

B. Her letter of resignation is rejected by the boss.

C. Her boss is anxious about his poor management.

D. Nearly all the employees can’t live with the boss.

9. A. The new computer program is out of date.

B. He is used to the changing technology.

C. Learning a program through computer is outdated.

D. Ever-changing technology accounts for the problem.

10. A. Negotiate the deadline to postpone it.

B. Gather more information with the man.

C. Prepare the presentation with the material at hand.

D. Tailor the contents of the presentation to hit the deadline.

Section B

Directions: In 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 passages 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 passage.

11. A. In 1909.   B. In 1911.   C. In 1913.   D. In 1915. 

12. A. It was fashionable to have a bare head. B. Women were forced to remove hairs.

C. A wide forehead was a symbol of beauty.  D. It helps distinguish the painting from others.

13. A. The identity of Mona Lisa remains to be confirmed.

B. Leonardo is good at creating mysterious portrait of men.

C. The painting is doomed to be damaged as time passes by.

D. Mona Lisa was painted in memory of a woman from Italy.

Questions 14 through 16 are based on the following passage.

14. A. Parking capacity has nearly tripled.   B. Severe accidents happened there before.

C. It is supervised by a human-shaped robot.   D. Cars are better managed than other garages.

15. A. The robot.   B. The garage.   C. The driver.    D. The attendant.

16. A. The favorable service.      B. The convenience of parking. 

C. The safety and reliability.     D. The discountable parking fees. 

Questions 17 through 20 are based on the following conversation.

17. A. It lies in seizing opportunities.    B. It partly depends on human effort.

C. It comes out of one’s determination.    D. It is more than an element of success.

18. A. It is a must towards success.     B. It pales in comparison with practice.

3. It contributes to success in some way.   D. It is something that people are born with.

19. A. Being passionate can generate wealth.  

B. Passionate people care little about money.

C. Money comes automatically with success. 

D. Love makes a person passionate and hardworking.

20. A. What brings about success.    B. Why passion is important. 

C. How luck affects a person.     D. A fantastic video on success.

II. 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.

Humanoid Robots Just Raced in a World-First Half-Marathon.

On Saturday, Beijing hosted (21) ________ is being called the world’s first humanoid half-marathon. While technologically impressive, the outcome of the event should reassure those who fear robots will one day overrun humanity (22) ______ it appears they won’t be outrunning us any time soon.

Twenty-one humanoids of various shapes and sizes raced (23) ______ thousands of humans, closely followed by their operators. But just six of the robots successfully reached the finish line. To participate in the race, the robots (24) ______ ______ run on two legs, like humans. However, the participating tech companies and universities were allowed to bring their robots in for battery-replacing pit stops, like racecars, sometimes even (25) ______ (replace) the whole robot with a new one.

“The robots are running very well, very stable … I feel I (26) ______ (witness) the evolution of robots and A.I.,” said He Sishu, a spectator who works in artificial intelligence. Alan Fern, a researcher at Oregon State University, however, says that so far Chinese companies (27) ______ (focus) on showing off walking, running, and dancing but they don’t demonstrate much regarding any type of basic intelligence.

The 13.1-mile racetrack had a dedicated humanoid-only lane—which is probably a good idea, given that the robot contestants regularly fell over, lost their heads or even (28)______ (spin) out of control. Nevertheless, Fern was actually very impressed that some humanoids completed the race within a given time limit, since he would have bet that (29) ______ of them would finish.

Tiangong Ultra, the winner developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center (BHRIC) came in at 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. That’s more than an hour and a half behind the winner of the men’s race but still within the minimum for human runners, (30) ______ was 3 hours and 10 minutes.

“If the aim is to demonstrate useful real-world applications for humanoid technology, perhaps the organizers should consider a house-cleaning or laundry-folding race for the next competition. And maybe they will,” said Tang Jian, chief technology officer for the BHRIC.

Section B

 

A. dismissed	B. frontier	C. weigh	D. leap	E. lock	F. narrowed
G. predetermined	H. rigid	I. routine	J. sheltered	K. still

 

 

Facing Uncertainty in the Future

The future is an unknown that many of us fear. Throughout childhood, many of us are innocent, (31) ________ by the

safety of home. We are fed ideals and taught principles by caretakers—parents, teachers, adults who shape our early beliefs. Time passes until, without warning, we’re eighteen and pushed into adulthood, expected to find our way in a world we don’t yet understand.

Higher education often feels like the final (32) _______ before full adulthood—a stormy space of doubt. Questions arise: What path should I take? Will I find happiness? These uncertainties (33) __________ heavily, leaving one mentally exhausted and weakening confidence as the “real world” approaches. Yet, within this fear lies a hidden beauty: the realization that life isn’t as (34) _______ as we’re taught. We assume that our early choices (35) _______ us in, and that taking a different route only results in failure. But the truth is, we hold more power over our lives than we think. Still, many give up that power, softening their ambitions to fit expectations.

There’s much to say for consistency, but standing (36) ________ limits potential for growth. Holding tightly to a (37) ________ route risks wasting not just days, but an entire lifetime that could have been extraordinary. I know this fear well. Raised to believe success meant perfect grades, a degree from a top university, and a high-paying job, I never questioned the path—until high school, when doubts slowly entered my mind. What if I wanted something else? The pressure (38) ________ my world into a small, dark tunnel that I felt I had no choice but to follow.

But security doesn’t guarantee happiness. By university, I felt trapped, convinced I’d failed for not meeting expectations. Then, I took a (39) _________: I switched my major to East Asian Studies, a field (40) _________ as impractical. Initially, the decision seemed illogical, contrary to everything I was taught to believe in. Yet, instead of regret, I found relief. For the first time, I loved learning, freed from pressures I put on myself. The “right” path isn’t the same for everyone—it’s the one that awakens passion, not fear.

 

III. Reading Comprehension

Section A    

Sufficient research has shown that when people believe that their managers are truly listening to their ideas and concerns, work relationships grow stronger, engagement rises, and performance improves. That’s why bosses have regular one‑on-ones with their (41) ________ reports, and new division heads go on listening tours.

However, studies also show that such practices often are (42) ________—in part because many managers simply aren’t good listeners. When we conducted a comprehensive review of 117 academic papers on workplace listening, we found that this skill is far easier to describe than to (43) _______.

Why? Because listening is an (44) ________ activity that requires empathy, patience, and the ability to respond to what you hear. And because it can be so (45) ________ demanding, particularly when the subject matter is complex or emotionally charged, people often take shortcuts.

Take Google’s all-company Friday meetings. For years these were biweekly open forums where company leaders would share (46) ________, discuss strategic developments, and take questions from employees. They played a critical role in maintaining a culture of (47) ________ at the company. As Laszlo Bock, Google’s former vice president of people operations, once explained, they (48) ________ “everything from whether the mix of food in the cafés is too healthy to really significant questions around whether our strategy with a particular country or product is good or evil.” (49) ________, in 2019 Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, decided that the meetings were no longer working. Employees wanted to talk about controversial issues like the company’s handling of hate speech, and discussions were often (50) ________ to the press. Pichai made them less regular and changed their   (51) ________. It seems that listening to everyone had gotten too difficult.

Similar situations have played out at Activision Blizzard, where an attempt to address misconduct claims during a company town hall led to a massive strike, with workers complaining that leaders were (52) ________ rather than meaningfully addressing their concerns, and at Amazon, where employees said that a daily survey designed to evaluate staff well-being was being prejudiced by managers’ direct pressure to give (53) ________ answers and by worries that responses wouldn’t be kept privately protected.

Listening without (54) ________ action or explanation leads employees to believe their efforts—and yours—have been pointless. There is a fix for this: Always complete the communication cycle. Before ending a conversation, restate what you’ve heard, identify the next steps for action, and   (55) ________ a timeline for checking back in. That emphasizes forward momentum (势头) and ensures accountability.