湖南衡阳县2025-2026学年下学期高二创新实验班期末质量检测英语试题

衡阳县2026年上学期高二创新实验班期末质量检测试题 英 语 考生注意： 1．本试卷分为听力、阅读、语言运用和写作四个部分，满分150分，考试时量120分钟。 2．试卷分为试题卷和答题卡两个部分，答题前，考生务必将自己的姓名、考号、学校填在试题卷答题卡上。 3．将答案写在答题卡上，写在试题卷上无效。 4．考试结束后请将答题卡上交。 第一部分 听力（共两节，满分30分） 做题时，先将答案标在试卷上。录音内容结束后，你将有两分钟的时间将试卷上的答案转涂到答题卡上。 第一节（共5小题；每小题1.5分，满分7.5分） 听下面5段对话。每段对话后有一个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。听完每段对话后，你都有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话读二遍。 1. What will the woman probably do next? A. Draw a picture. B. Send an email. C. Check the article. 2. What can we learn about the man? A. He’s forgetful. B. He’s in a hurry. C. He’s organized. 3. Where does the conversation probably take place? A. In a science museum. B. In an art gallery. C. In a concert hall. 4. What does the woman think of the smartwatch? A. It’s complicated. B. It’s affordable. C. It’s unnecessary. 5. What are the speakers talking about? A. A work mode shift. B. A job hunting experience. C. A time management method. 第二节（共15小题；每小题1.5分，满分22.5分） 听下面5段录音，每段录音后有几个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳 选项。听每段录音前,你将有时间阅读各个小题,每小题5秒钟;听完后,每小题都有5秒钟 的作答时间。每段录音播放两遍。 听第6段录音，回答第6、7题 6. What are the speakers doing? A. Writing a novel. B. Watching a film. C. Staging a play. 7. How does the woman feel about the plot? A. Imaginative. B. Confusing. C. Predictable. 听第7段录音，回答第8至10题 8. Why is the new station being built in the suburbs? A. To store big telescopes. B. To avoid heavy urban traffic. C. To ensure ideal observing conditions. 9. What might bother Tom in his work? A. The heavy physical labor. B. The unusual working hours. C. The poor research facilities. 10. How will the woman contribute to the project? A. By processing digital data. B. By buying new cameras. C. By monitoring the station. 听第8段录音，回答第11至13题 11. What especially drives the woman to study architecture? A. Its visible influence on a city. B. Her discussion with a professor. C. Its combination of design and engineering. 12. What do we know about architecture nowadays? A. It covers various fields. B. It requires multiple degrees. C. It involves diverse decorations. 13. What will the woman probably learn this summer? A. Western philosophy. B. Social economics. C. Computer science. 听第9段录音，回答第14至17题 14. What is the woman’s view on the AI tool? A. It needs more tests. B. It works quite well. C. It performs terribly. 15. What is the man’s worry about the AI tool? A. Its privacy risk. B. Its unreliable accuracy. C. Its complex operation. 16. What function of the AI tool impresses the man? A. Recording daily reading habits. B. Translating foreign books quickly. C. Offering random recommendations. 17. How can the man use the AI tool? A. With his library account. B. With the librarian’s help. C. With a new account. 听第10段录音，回答第18至20题 18. What was Linda’s task at the dairy company? A. Delivering sugary yogurts to markets. B. Measuring the sugar level in products. C. Analyzing the nutritional value of sugar. 19. What did Linda’s team do in Chicago? A. They boosted sales of existing products. B. They invented a sugar-testing method. C. They created new drinks from plants. 20. What did Linda’s team develop? A. A low-fat chocolate. B. A sugar-free product. C. An AI-driven program. 第二部分 阅读（共两节，满分50分） 第一节（共15小题；每小题2.5分，满分37.5分） 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。 A The Future of Clean Energy in Homes Heating, cooling, and powering homes contribute significantly to global CO2 emissions. As nations strive to reduce their carbon footprints, residential energy use — responsible for nearly 20% of energy-related emissions — poses unique challenges. Below is the 2022 breakdown of household emissions by source. ELECTRICITY 52% HEATING 28% COOLING 12% APPLIANCES 6% LIGHTING 2% Clean energy solutions for homes must be affordable, efficient, and adaptable to diverse climates. While technologies vary, here are key innovations driving the shift toward sustainability. HEAT PUMPS — Efficient Heating/Cooling Replacing gas boilers, electric heat pumps transfer warmth from air or ground, cutting heating emissions by 50%. Hybrid models, hopefully, might be able to work in sub-zero temperatures in the near future SMART GRIDS (电网) — Dynamic Electricity Management AI-powered grids optimize energy use, storing surplus solar power during peak hours and reducing reliance on fossil-fuel backups. SOLAR PANELS — Rooftop Revolution Solar energy is the most accessible renewable source for households. Advances in photovoltaic cells have cut costs by 80% since 2010, making them viable in numerous regions. WIND TURBINES — Community Microgrids Small-scale turbines (涡轮机) in windy areas can power neighborhoods, though land use debates persist. “The scale of this transition is staggering,” says Dr. Elena Torres, a climate scientist at MIT. Residential renewables like solar and heat pumps could meet 90% of global household demand by 2050 — but only if investments triple within a decade. Recent studies show that every $ 1 invested in green homes today saves $ 5 in future climate adaptation costs. This isn’t just an environmental imperative; it’s economically inevitable. 21. Which two categories combined account for over three quarters of total household emissions? A. Electricity and Heating. B. Heating and Cooling. C. Appliances and Lighting. D. Cooling and Appliances. 22. Which technology is highlighted as cost-effective for diverse climates? A. Heat pumps. B. Smart grids. C. Solar panels. D. Wind turbines. 23. What does Dr. Torres emphasize about the energy transition? A. The dominance of gas boilers. B. The increase in solar efficiency. C. The need for higher investment. D. The breakthrough in heat pump technology. B In this fast-paced world, quiet moments are often spent staring at a phone screen. For those who have forgotten how to switch off and reconnect with themselves, Deborah Alma may have just what the doctor ordered. She is the founder of The Poetry Pharmacy (药房), whose aim is to ease worry with words, allowing visitors to book poetry consultations for tailored advice or pick up a quick fix off the shelves. Last year, another Poetry Pharmacy opened its doors inside LUSH on London’s Oxford Street, seeking to bring a little calm to the capital. Even before she had two successful “practices” under her belt, Deborah was keenly aware of the power of poetry. She noticed how it could bring people a positive change. This inspired her to become the “Emergency Poet” traveling the country in a vintage ambulance to offer poetry prescriptions (处方). The 1950s ambulance, which was bought on eBay, carried 200 poems, each with advice like “take this poem with a cup of tea” or “listen to some birdsong”. After about a decade of mobile medicine, Deborah parked up her practice for a permanent location in Shropshire. This became the world’s first walk-in-poetry pharmacy, and — unlike the ambulance — it had central heating. From a cozy coffee corner to an inspiring physic garden, the Pharmacy is described as “a peaceful place to rest and dream”. “What happens in the shops is that people who look at pills are often buying things for others. It’s potentially a little theatre, but that act of giving and thinking about someone else is heartwarming.” The Pharmacy also provides a more personalized service. “We ask about people’s reading habits, how they relax, rather than their problems. It should be a pleasure to answer these questions,” Deborah says. Despite never having done any online marketing, The Poetry Pharmacy has a dedicated following of creative souls, including Mark Constantine, CEO and co-founder of LUSH. We don’t know what the future holds for The Poetry Pharmacy and its founder, but one thing is certain — the next chapter is bound to be a good one! 24. How many poetry pharmacies has Deborah opened? A. One. B. Two. C. Three. D. Four. 25. What can possibly happen in The Poetry Pharmacy? A. Poetic healing. B. Helping phone addicts. C. Enjoying theatre performances. D. Discussing poetry writing. 26. What can be inferred from the last paragraph? A. The shop needs some marketing. B. The shop has gained acceptance. C. Deborah will open a new shop soon. D. Deborah has found some co-founders. 27. Which of the following best describes Deborah? A. Creative but inconsistent. B. Conventional but warm. C. Innovative and compassionate. D. Sociable and adventurous. C Languages represent far more than mere communication tools; they are complex carriers of cultural memory, showing unique viewpoints, cultural traditions, and collective wisdom. Language loss occurs when the final native speakers disappear, transforming vivid linguistic (语言的) traditions into historical artifacts. The loss of a language is not merely a loss of words but a deep loss of human heritage, disconnecting communities from their ancestral roots and their unique worldview. While language extinction is not a new phenomenon, languages are disappearing at the fastest rate in recorded history, with one language lost every three to four months. Artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced innovative methods for preserving and refreshing endangered languages, offering tools that were unimaginable in traditional linguistic research. Automated Transcription Tools can change spoken language into written text, while Large Language Models (LLMs) are trained on extensive datasets to perform translations across a wide range of languages. While AI offers promising solutions, it faces a significant challenge which blocks its full potential. The vast majority of these endangered languages are underrepresented digitally. If one language doesn’t have a lot of text online, it will be less represented in those technologies. This digital divide is further worsened by the dominance of a few languages on the Internet. Consequently, endangered languages are often excluded from AI technologies, leaving their speakers pushed aside in the digital space. Tech companies, linguists and local communities are all vital in ensuring that AI tools are culturally relevant and technically effective, which can lead to the developments that meet the unique needs of each language community. By involving native speakers in the design and use of AI technologies, we can create language resources that reflect the true essence of the language and encourage a sense of ownership among community members. This shared approach is essential for building trust and ensuring the long-term sustainability of language preservation efforts. 28. Why are the roles of languages talked about in Paragraph 1? A. To call for global language unity. B. To draw attention to lost languages. C. To show the effect of language loss. D. To prove the uniqueness of languages. 29. What major difficulty does AI face in handling endangered languages? A. Their limited speakers. B. Their poor digital data. C. The dominant languages. D. The backward technologies. 30. What does the author urge people to do in the end? A. Prioritize communities over experts. B. Meet common needs of communities. C. Create technically effective AI models. D. Make joint efforts at specific solutions. 31. Which can be the best title for the text? A. Save Dying Languages Through Technology B. Bridge the Digital Language Gap with AI Tools C. AI in Teaching People Endangered Languages D. Fruitful Smart Projects in Language Protection D Pictures and videos of all sorts of animals regularly go viral these days because people connect with the apparent joy, friendship and playfulness of these animals. Unfortunately, the initial enthusiasm of these posts is often squashed by someone rightly noting that the animal’s reaction is not joy or pleasure, but fear, anger or pain. The reason we often get cases like this wrong is that we interpret the emotional content of many behaviors automatically and unconsciously. This is a version of anthropomorphism: interpreting animals as we would interpret another human. The standard view has been that anthropomorphism is primarily an error of overestimating the intelligence of animals. In recent decades, many authors have pushed back against this attitude towards anthropomorphism, arguing animals are a lot like us and that many “anthropomorphic” claims about animals are actually true. Instead of getting caught in a black-and-white debate, however, I want a more complicated, informed discussion of competing ideas. Once we agree that animals do in fact, have emotions, we can acknowledge that the anthropomorphic mistake is not seeing emotion where there is none — it is seeing the wrong emotion. Each of us has a set of perceptual, emotional and cognitive capacities that allow us to engage and understand one another socially. These capacities help guide and structure all sorts of interactions, and we are generally not even aware we are using them. They are generally, but not perfectly, tuned for human interaction. Things can get messy, though, when we use them to interpret animals. Perhaps the best-studied version of this is the primate “grin” (灵长类动物的咧嘴笑). The animal is not happy, it turns out. The exact signaling function varies by species, but it usually signals something more like fear or anxiety, often by a submissive individual in a tense social situation. This is, in fact, anthropomorphism, because you are interpreting an animal’s behavior in the same way we would interpret human behavior. This kind of anthropomorphism is a form of cognitive bias (偏见)resulting from shortcuts taken by our reasoning processes, usually without our awareness. We should approach the topic of anthropomorphism from the angle of bias. Traditionally, assumptions about how and when people anthropomorphise have been so fixed that the psychology did not seem worth investigating. Slightly different attitudes can be found. For example, even though they advocate for anthropomorphic views of animals, the zoologists Jesus Rivas and Gordon Burghardt memorably note that it can be tricky: “Anthropomorphism comes in many forms and can catch you off guard!” While the recognition of “many forms” is progress, it makes the need for evidence-based research only more pressing. By focusing on implicit(隐性的)anthropomorphism, we shift attention from debating specific “humanlike” features to examining the deeper psychological mechanisms that make anthropomorphism so slippery. This, I believe, is the most challenging and most significant dimension of the problem. 32. What does the word “squashed” underlined in Paragraph 1 probably mean? A. Awakened. B. Suppressed. C. Misguided. D. Underestimated. 33. What can we learn about anthropomorphism? A. It turns animals’ negative emotions into positive ones B. It underrates the emotional capacities of animal species. C. It contributes to the shortcuts of our reasoning processes. D. It shows people’s tendency to attribute human traits to animals. 34. The author quotes Jesus and Gordon to ________. A. confirm the value of anthropomorphism B. highlight the complexity of anthropomorphism C. warn us of the limitations of anthropomorphism D. remind us to view anthropomorphism positively 35. What does the author intend to do by writing this passage?. A. Propose a fresh perspective. B. Analyze a worrying tendency. C. Evaluate the credibility of a theory. D. Explore the origin of a phenomenon. 第二节（共5小题；每小题2.5分，满分12.5分） 阅读下面短文，从短文后的选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。 Over the summer, Ohio State University announced a new initiative promising to “integrate AI education into the core of every undergraduate curriculum.” Similar initiatives are being rolled out at other universities. 36 Based on the available evidence, the skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era are precisely those that are likely to be weakened by inserting AI into the educational process. Students must be able to ask AI questions, critically analyze its written responses, identify possible weaknesses or inaccuracies, and integrate new information with existing knowledge. Each of these skills comes from years of sustained educational development. 37 “I find that careful use of AI helps me at work, but that is because I completed my education decades ago and have been actively studying ever since,” the sociologist Gabriel Rossman has written. “My accumulated knowledge gives me inspiration for new research questions and techniques.” Will the AI-integrated education develop these skills? 38 For example, a team of scientists at MIT recently divided subjects into three groups and asked them to write a number of short essays over the course of several months. The first group used ChatGPT to assist its writing, the second used Google Search, and the third used no technology. They found that the subjects that used ChatGPT produced vague, poorly reasoned essays and showed the lowest levels of brain activity. 39 Other studies have found a negative correlation between AI use and cognitive abilities. 40 The most responsible way for colleges to prepare students for the future is to teach AI skills only after building a solid foundation of basic cognitive (认知的) ability and advanced disciplinary knowledge. A. This is how innovation happens. B. These findings raise serious doubts about the push. C. A growing body of research suggests that it will not. D. We should engage in cautious and reasoned thinking. E. Some experts argue for a complete ban on AI in educational settings. F. But such policies represent a dangerously rapid and uninformed response to the technology. G. They tended to compose their work simply by cutting and pasting (粘贴) material from other sources. 第三部分 语言运用（共两节，满分30分） 第一节（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分） 阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。 In 1980, when Malcolm Campbell was a senior in high school, he took a civics class with a teacher named Don Lawson. One of the units that Mr Lawson 41 was about the anti-war movement. For two days, Mr Lawson played them anti-war songs by Bob Dylan, to 42 that art can be an important vehicle for protest. On the second day, Campbell raised his hand, with a 43 . “Is this gonna be on the test?” he recalled asking. “And Mr Lawson looked at me and said, No, man, this is for your 44 ,” Campbell said. That’s when Campbell had a flash of 45 about what Mr Lawson was trying to do. “It was like in the movies. A light went off in my head,” Campbell remembered. “And I 46 what Mr Lawson was trying to convey. He’s 47 this material not for the test, but for personal enrichment.” Campbell went on to 48 a PhD in biology and he spent 30 years teaching biology at Davidson College in North Carolina. All along, he kept the 49 of Mr Lawson in his heart. Campbell recently 50 from teaching. But looking back at his long career, one of his 51 accomplishments was helping students have their own 52 of epiphany (顿悟). “That’s a(n) 53 career-essentially I go around flipping (抛) lit matches onto piles of leaves and watching them take 54 ,”Campbell said. That’s 55 true. As a famous saying goes, “Education is not the filling of a pail (桶), but the lighting of a fire.” 41. A. learned B. reviewed C. commented D. taught 42. A. illustrate B. ensure C. confirm D. propose 43. A. present B. request C. demand D. question 44. A. life B. health C. soul D. future 45. A. thought B. insight C. concept D. imagination 46. A. figured out B. came across C. took over D. turned down 47. A. produced B. advocated C. arranged D. replaced 48. A. earn B. take C. apply D. claim 49. A. messages B. lessons C. opinions D. actions 50 A. separated B. removed C. escaped D. retired 51. A. easiest B. hardest C. proudest D. latest 52. A. classes B. stages C. moments D. periods 53. A. amazing B. simple C. ordinary D. familiar 54. A. order B. fire C. chance D. turn 55. A. basically B. normally C. generally D. absolutely 第二节（共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分） 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。 An Extreme Fondness for Ants One day in 1936 Edward Wilson, a budding seven-year-old naturalist, was out (56) ______ (fish). He hooked a pinfish, which has sharp spines down its back. He pulled so hard that one of its spines went into his right eye. Keen not to cut short a day outdoors, he kept on (57) ______ going to hospital. As a result, he lost most of the sight in that eye. This loss of vision gave him a push from vertebrates toward ants. A long and productive career (58) ______ (witness) him write hundreds of papers and publish dozens of books, collect two Pulitzer prizes, and make fundamental contributions to ecology and evolutionary biology up to now. As with all the best scientists, he delighted in drawing connections. Ants are biological robots and their behaviour controlled by chemicals are called pheromones. But from those simple chemicals (59) ______ (arise) an astonishing variety of behaviour. Ants march in columns, practise agriculture, and run complex societies (60) _______ the individual good is less important than that of the colony. Exploring the evolutionary principles (61) (underlie) that behaviour got him thinking about how they could apply to other species, (62) _______ topic he explored in 1975 in a book called “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis”. The chapters that applied biological reasoning to the behaviour of other animals were uncontroversial. But when, at the end, he extended the (63) _______ (analyze) to humans he was criticized by some of his colleagues and physically attacked at a lecture. Time has proved Wilson right. These days few dispute that human behaviour is at least (64) _______ (part) shaped by genes. (65) _______ the principle is mostly accepted, the mechanisms remain obscure. Understanding exactly how, and how much, genes affect human behaviour remains a piece of vast and fascinating unfinished business. 第四部分 写作（共两节，满分40分） 第一节 应用文写作（满分15分） 假定你是校园播客社（Campus Podcast Club）负责人李华，拟在学校英文论坛发帖为社团招新。请写一篇短文，内容包括： （1）社团理念及工作意义；（2）招募岗位和报名方式。 参考词汇：招募 recruit 注意： （1）写作词数应为80个左右； （2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。 Club Members Wanted 第二节 读后续写（满分25分） 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。 The airport announcement informed passengers that due to bad weather, the flight would be delayed for two hours before boarding. Mary’s mom commented quietly that the delay seemed to have ruined everyone’s mood. But eleven-year-old Mary stayed calm, softly humming (哼) a new song she had just learned. She was looking forward to the weekend trip to visit her grandparents, excited to share the song with them. To her, music was like an invisible string that could tie strangers together, creating a warm community. She remembered the first time she had felt this connection: at six years old, waiting for the bus with her mom on a hot, boring day. Then a cheerful tune came from a store loudspeaker — a song about a girl and her dreams: “Dreams of sunshine and fields of gold, Where the heart is never old, Singing songs that never end, In a world that’s my best friend…” Without thinking, Mary sang along — her voice soft and gentle at first, like a whisper carried on the gentle wind, which gradually growing stronger and more confident. The melody was simple yet engaging. Time passed without her noticing. When the bus arrived, passengers smiled; an old man beat his walking stick to the beat. As the doors closed, everyone was humming. Mom whispered to her, “You just lifted all our spirits.” Nothing seemed better than music for calming a restless heart, and Mary remembered that. After boarding the plane, the passengers were told of another weather delay — at least another 45 minutes. The cabin (机舱) grew tense with restless movements and complaints. Then a sudden cry cut through the air. Across the aisle (通道) to Mary’s left, a tiny girl, barely three years old, began to cry. Her mother tried everything — rocking her, offering snacks, water, toys — but nothing worked. The child’s face was wet with tears, her cries loud and broken. Passengers shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the crying filled the cabin. 注意： （1）续写词数应为150左右； （2）请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。 Mary hesitated for a moment, and then turned to her mom._ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Slowly, the baby’s cries softened. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $ 2026年上学期高二创新实验班期末质量检测 英语答案 第一部分 听力（共两节，满分30分，每小题1.5分） 1-5 BABCA 6-10 BCCBA 11-15 CACBA 16-20 CABCA 第二部分 阅读理解（共50分，每小题2.5分） A: AAC B:BABC C:CBDA D:BDBA 36-40: FACGD 第三部分 语言运用 第一节（15分，每小题1分） 41-45. DADCB; 47-50. ACABD; 51-55. CCABD 第二节（15分，每小题1.5分） 56.fishing 57. without 58.has witnessed 59. arises 60. where 61. underlying 62. a 63.analysis 64. partly 65. Although/Though/While 第四部分：写作（40分） 第一节 应用文（15分） Club Members Wanted Hello everyone! Our Podcast Club is now recruiting! We believe podcasting gives every student a voice. By creating shows on campus life and social topics, we not only improve English but also develop critical thinking and teamwork. Our work helps spread ideas, share insights, and connect students across campus. We’re looking for hosts, editors, and sound technicians. No experience needed — just passion! To apply, please send your name, grade, and preferred role to podcastclub@school.com before May 20th. You may also include a short self-introduction. Join us to make your voice heard! Campus Podcast Club 第二节：读后续写（25分） Mary hesitated for a moment, and then turned to her mom. She asked if she could sing for the baby. Mom smiled and nodded in agreement. Encouraged, Mary gently asked the mother if she could sing for the baby. The mother, clearly exhausted after trying everything she could, nodded gratefully. Mary took a deep breath and began to sing. Her voice was soft and gentle at first, like a whisper carried on the gentle wind, which gradually grew stronger and more confident. The song was simple yet engaging. She sang of sunshine and dreams, which was easy to catch. Slowly, the baby’s cries softened. Her little body relaxed as Mary’s gentle voice filled the air. The song was simple, yet it seemed to weave a calming spell over the cabin. The baby stopping crying and the air filled with comforting song, other passengers, who had been restless, began to quiet down, drawn into the soothing melody. The mother’s tense expression eased, and she gave Mary a grateful smile. As the song reached its end, everyone clapped with cheers, which turned the boring and annoying delay into a musical feast. Mary’s mom leaned over and whispered, “You did it again, lifting all our spirits.” 听力部分录音材料 Text 1 W: I finished the article for the school magazine. I’m doing the final check now. M: Great, and don’t forget to find a nice picture to match it. W: I’ll work on that after I email the draft to the editor. Text 2 M: Have you seen my wireless earphones? I left them on the desk, but they’re gone. W: Go through your school bag, I saw something white in the side pocket. M: Oh, here they are. I really need to keep track of my things. Text 3 M: It’s over my head. All I see is a bunch of random shapes. What’s the artist trying to convey? W: That’s the beauty of postmodern works. You are supposed to feel it, not explain it. M: Um... Feels more like a mess to me, I prefer something I can actually recognize. Text 4 M: Look at my new smartwatch, it tracks my sleep, my steps, and even my stress levels. W: That’s cool, but wasn’t it expensive? M: Yeah. It cost me an arm and a leg, but it’s worth it for the data. W: Personally, I’m happy with just my phone for that. Text 5 M: How’s the new job going, Alice? Still spending two hours on the bus every day? W: Not anymore, my company has switched to remote work. I only go to the office once a month now. M: Lucky you. Text 6 M: I don’t get it. Why did the hero suddenly quit his job and move to a farm? W: Because he’s having a midlife crisis. He’s tired of the city life. M: It feels a bit sudden. W: It’s understandable. Sometimes people just do that. Keep watching! I bet he will run into his old love interest there. M: You have probably guessed the whole plot already. Text 7 W: Tom, I haven’t seen you at the sports club for weeks. M: Actually, I’ve been volunteering for the quiet sky research program at the University. W: That sounds impressive. Are you studying the stars? M: Yes, we are building a small station in the suburbs to observe the stars and collect digital data. W: Why go so far? The University already has a big telescope. M: The city lights are too bright to see distant objects. The sky must be perfectly dark. W: Is it demanding work? M: It’s not very tiring, but we have to work from midnight until 4am twice a week. W: I have some experience with cameras. Can I join you? M: That would be perfect. We definitely need someone to handle the data next month. W: Count me in. I prefer doing this to just watching TV. Text 8 M: Have you decided what to study? W: Yes, I want to study architecture. M: Ah, that’s a wonderful profession. Why did you choose it? W: I gave a lot of thought to things you said during our last discussion, and I decided architecture made the most sense for me. In particular, I’m attracted to the marriage of design and engineering. M: That’s great. Architecture is one field where you will clearly witness the contribution you make to a city. W: Yeah. So what subjects do you think I should start brushing up on in preparation? I have the whole summer. M: In recent times, architecture has become a very diverse and dynamic subject. Most universities will encourage you to learn different things from fields as wide-ranging as philosophy and economics. Nevertheless, I would suggest you start with computer science, because there will be many complicated visuals you will have to produce as part of your projects. Also try to learn as much as you can about fine arts, especially the history of Western art. Text 9 M: Have you tried the library’s new AI search tool? I heard it can recommend books based on your reading history. W: I just tested it yesterday. It’s surprisingly accurate. It even suggested a novel I ended up loving. M: That sounds useful, but I’m a bit concerned about privacy. Doesn’t it collect too much personal data? W: The librarian explained that all data is kept private and only used for recommendations. They don’t share it with anyone. M: That’s comforting. Still, I wonder if relying on AI might limit what we discover. Sometimes the best finds are accidental. W: The tool actually has a random discovery mode that suggests books outside your usual taste. M: That’s clever! I might give it a try then. Do I need to sign up separately? W: No, just log in with your library account. The AI assistant will guide you through the setup. M: Great. I’ll check it out this afternoon. Text 10 Linda Harrison has spent over 20 years studying what we eat. She began her professional career in 2002 at a small dairy company in Vermont, where she was responsible for testing the sugar content of various fruit yogurts. During this early period, her daily work involved chemical analysis in a traditional laboratory. In 2012, Linda joined Global Nutrition, a leading research firm in Chicago, her role shifted from testing existing products to developing plant-based alternatives. She led a team that used an innovative technique to make milklike drinks from beans and grains. This project was a great success. Recently, Linda’s work has entered a new phase. She is currently using AI to predict how different combinations of natural ingredients will taste before they are even mixed. Last month, her team launched a new type of chocolate that contains 70% less fat. 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $