眉山2025届高三毕业班第二次质量检测英语试题

1、—— Have they made the final decision?

—— Yes, but it’s ________ likely that they will change their mind again tomorrow.

A. rather than B. other than C. less than D. or rather

2、The Smiths don’t usually like staying at   hotels, but last summer they spent a few days at a very nice hotel by ________ sea.

A./; a B.the; the C./; the D.the; a

3、______Jixi today is more beautiful now. Mr. Jackson said he would visit it______third time.

A.The;/ B.The;the C./;a D.The;a

4、________ to make his parents to live a better life, he went abroad, working to make more money.

A．Determined

B．Determining

C．To determine

D．Having determined

5、A Chinese spokesman said on Wednesday that the support for Taiwan-funded companies to develop on the mainland remains consistent and___________.

A.explicit B.specific C.reserved D.contradictory

6、The father as well as his three kids ________ skating on the cold river every Sunday afternoon in winter.

A. goes B. go C. is going D. are going

7、Because the situation of that country________, all the foreigners are preparing to leave.

A.is getting worse B.got worse

C.was getting worse D.had got worse

8、Smiling doesn’t ________ mean you’re happy. Sometimes, it just means that you’re strong enough to face problems.

A.fortunately B.eventually C.deliberately D.necessarily

9、__________ the bad weather , the delivery was put off.

A.As a result B.As a consequence of C.In consequence D.Owe to

10、American Indians_______ about 5% of the US population.

A.keep off B.keep up C.make up for D.make up

11、5G technology will ______ 15.2 trillion yuan _______ China’s digital industry between 2020 and 2025, Science and Technology Daily reported on August 28.

A.contribute, to B.adjust, to C.leave, behind D.balance, against

12、A true gentleman won’t pretend to have those absurd manners which are necessary ______ we call the upper class.

A. who B. in which

C. in what D. which

13、You have no idea how she finished the relay race with her foot ______ so much.

A.wounding B.wounded C.to wound D.having wounded

14、The five mascots（吉祥物）, Beibei ,Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini ,meaning in English “Welcome to Beijing”, a message of friendship to people all over the world.

A.communicate B.represent C.leave D.stand

15、 ______ is surprising to us is that Tom, for ______ English was once boring, can speak English fluently as though he were a native speaker.

A．What; whom

B．What; whose

C．It; whose

D．As; whom

16、I think you can ______ the first five chapters before the deadline.

A. live through B. put through

C. get through D. see through

17、Top students are not merely those who sit up late and study. It is efficiency ______ matters.

A.that B.how C.what D.which

18、As a great team leader. Yao Ming has got to think that he’s the best player out there. That way, he can______the game.

A.defend B.confirm C.attain D.dominate

19、_______inflation, the cost of the project over 10 years is $2 million.

A.Allowing B.Allowing into C.Allowing of D.Allowing for

20、The human body can tolerate only a small range of temperature, _____ when the person is engaged in vigorous activity.

A.essentially B.specially C.generally D.especially

21、You look so tired tonight. It is time you_______.

A. go to sleep B. went to sleep

C. go to bed D. went to bed

22、For many seniors in some universities, the final year can be an unhappy experience, __________ that ends the campus romance.

A.which B.the one C.what D.one

23、We didn’t get a hotel room because we ______ in advance.

A. hadn’t booked   B. haven’t booked

C. weren’t booking   D. wouldn’t book

24、This is a blue door but it was _______ painted green.

A.eventually B.firstly C.originally D.presently

25、Robots can be reprogrammed by a computer to do another one after completing one specific task, and this is ______ automatic machines differ.

A．because

B．what

C．where

D．how

26、An advance in electronic publishing could make the e-book you are reading seem as dated as a silent film. Publishers hope to explore the growing success of e-books by releasing versions with added soundtracks（电影配音）and musical accompaniments.

The noises in the first multimedia books — released in Britain on Friday - include rain hitting a window in a Sherlock Holmes tale. When the plot of a book reaches the most exciting part, background scores will create tension.

Supporters argue that sound effects are the next logical development for e-books and will add excitement for younger readers. Critics, however, will argue that the noise will ruin the simple pleasure of having the imagination stimulated by reading.

Caroline Michel, chief executive of the literary agency, said the new generation of computer- literate readers was used to multiple sensory input. She said, “Young people have split computer screens where they may be watching television and replying to an email at the same time. If that's what the market wants then we should respond to the market.”

Book track's sound effects work by estimating the user's reading speed. Each lime you turn a page, the software reassesses where you have reached in the text and times the sounds to switch on accordingly. If the soundtrack becomes out of synch （同步），a click on any word will reset it.

Some authors fear that a soundtrack could destroy the peace and quiet of libraries and ruin the pleasure, of reading. David Nicholls, author of Our Day, the bestseller now released as a film, said, “This sounds like the opposite of reading. I have enough trouble reading an e-book because I'm constantly distracted by emails.

Stuart MacBride, the crime writer whose novel Shatter the Bones was an e-book bestseller, sells 18% of his books as electronic downloads. He said, “If I'm reading, I will do the noise in my head. I don’t need someone to tell me what lea cups clinking sounds like. That would irritate （激怒）me.”

【1】What do publishers expect an e-book soundtrack to do?

A．Help to release an e-book as a film.

B．Help readers improve reading speed.

C．Add tension at a book's exciting point.

D．Get readers familiar with       the background.

【2】Who is in favour of added soundtracks for e-books?

A．Mr. Darcy.

B．Caroline Michel.

C．David Nicholls.

D．Stuart MacBride.

【3】What do we know about Stuart MacBride?

A．He was a person who was easy to get angry.

B．He knew a great deal about tea and tea culture.

C．Eighty-two percent of his books described crime.

D．He imagined sounds related to the story when reading.

【4】What's the main idea of the passage?

A．Opinions about e-books with soundtracks.

B．Response to the need of the book market.

C．Reasons for traditional e-books becoming outdated.

D．Suggestions on encouraging readers’ imagination.

27、Ever wonder how your brain works when making decisions bigger than medium versus spicy salsa, like buying a car or accepting a job offer? Researchers from the University of Dundee in Scotland conducted a study that clarifies why you may want to have a small bite before making that big decision.

Benjamin Vincent from the University of Dundee’s Psychology department and his co-author Jordan Skyrnka tested 50 people two times: once when they followed their normal eating patterns and once when they did not eat anything during the day. Using three different types of rewards (food, money, and song downloads), the team discovered when presented with the choice of receiving the reward now versus double the award at some point in the future, participants would usually volunteer to wait for 35 days to earn a larger bounty, but when they were hungry, they said they would only wait three days.

“We wanted to know whether being in a state of hunger had a specific effect on how you make decisions only relating to food or if it had broader effects, and this research suggests decision-making gets more present-focused when people are hungry,” Vincent said in a story about the study on the university’s website. “You would predict that hunger would impact people’s preferences relating to food, but it is not yet clear why people get more present-focused for completely unrelated rewards. Hunger is so common that it is important to understand the non-obvious ways in which our preferences and decisions may be affected by it,” he said.

In an earlier study of the subject by a team at Cambridge University in England, the researchers noted that serotonin plays a major role in the decision-making process. “Since the raw material for making serotonin—an amino acid called tryptophan — only comes from diet, levels of the chemical decline between meals,” reports a piece in the Telegraph about the study. “This can lead to aggressiveness and impulsiveness,” say the team.

【1】How did Benjamin Vincent and Jordan Skyrnka carry out their research?

A．By analyzing reasons.

B．By making comparison.

C．By giving examples.

D．By filling questionnaires.

【2】The underlined word “bounty” in paragraph 2 can be best replaced by ________.

A．bonus.

B．quantity.

C．income.

D．fortune.

【3】What conclusion can we draw from Vincent’ study?

A．It’s common to make a wrong decision if you are hungry.

B．Make sure you are not hungry before making a big decision.

C．The more hungry you are, the quicker you will make a decision.

D．Being hungry drives you to make a decision connected with food.

【4】What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．What should be eaten to make a wise man.

B．How can we get enough serotonin from our diet.

C．What other factors will influence one’s decision-making.

D．How does a chemical function in the course of making a decision.

28、Kong Zi, also called Confucius (551-479B. C. ), and Socrates (苏格拉底) (469-399 B. C. ) lived only a hundred years apart, and during their lifetimes there was no contact between China and Greece, but it is interesting to look at how the world that each of these great philosophers came from shaped their ideas, and how these ideas in turn, shaped their societies.

Neither philosopher lived in times of peace, though there were more wars in Greece than in China. The Chinese states were very large and feudal, while the Greek city-states were small and urban. The urban environment in which Socrates lived allowed him to be more radical (激进的) than Confucius. Unlike Confucius, Socrates was not asked by rulers how to govern effectively. Thus, Socrates was able to be more idealistic, focusing on issues like freedom, and knowledge for its own sake. Confucius, on the other hand, advised those in government service, and many of his students went out to government service.

Confucius suggested the Golden Rule as a principle for the conduct of life: “Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.” He assumed that all men were equal at birth, though some had more potential than others, and that it was knowledge that set men apart. Socrates focused on the individual, and thought that the greatest purpose of man was to seek wisdom. But like Confucius, he also believed that the superior class should rule the inferior (下层的) classes.

For Socrates, the family was of no importance, and the community of little concern. For Confucius, however, the family was the centre of the society, with family relations considered much more important than political relations.

Both men are respected much more today than they were in their lifetimes.

【1】Which of the following is TURE according to the first paragraph?

A．Socrates and Confucius had much in common.

B．Confucius had much influence on Socrates’ ideas.

C．There were cultural exchanges between China and Greece.

D．The societies were influenced by the philosophers’ ideas.

【2】Socrates shared with Confucius the idea that ________.

A．all men were equal when they were born

B．the lower class should be ruled by the upper class

C．the purpose of man was to seek freedom and wisdom

D．do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you

【3】What made some people different from others according to Confucius?

A．Knowledge.

B．Potential.

C．Family.

D．Community.

【4】This passage is organized in the pattern of ________.

A．time and events

B．comparison and contrast

C．cause and effect

D．definition and classification

29、   To have a second child or not, this is a question.

A concern about only one child is whether one child necessarily means a lonely child. Many parents of only one child feel guilty of their decision to have only one child. There are no other children in the family for the child to associate with, which may lead to the child feeling lonely at times.

Another common argument against having just one child may be more spoiled than one with sisters or brothers. Many people believe that a single child will not have learned to negotiate with others, and respect the give-and-take involved in many relationships. Some think this may leave the child unable to get along well with people of his or her own age.

Despite these arguments, the number of parents choosing to have only one child is increasing in the world. For some single-child parents, the pressures of devoting time and energy to raising a second child can result in them selecting to have no more children. For other parents, the financial burden of having a second child may be the major consideration. Another important consideration is the increasing age at which women give birth to children.

Advocates of single-child families argue that there are advantages for the child as well as the parents. With just one child, the parents can give, and the child can receive, more quality time and attention,

However, there is no simple answer to the question of whether or not to have a second child. The circumstances affecting each set of parents are unique. The important thing, in the end, is to make a decision that both the wife and the husband feel confident.

【1】What are the advantages of children with brothers or sisters?

A.Less loneliness and better social abilities. B.Less pressure and better energy.

C.More respect and greater family wealth. D.Higher intelligence and more attention.

【2】What prevent some parents from having a second child according to the passage?

A.Work pressure. B.The disagreement between parents and children.

C.Limited time, energy and money. D.The health and wealth of the first child.

【3】What can we learn from the passage?

A.The birth of a second child makes many parents guilty.

B.The number of single-child parents is decreasing.

C.Family circumstances have little effect on parents’ decision.

D.Nowadays women delay giving birth to children.

【4】How is the passage developed?

A.By providing examples. B.By listing suggestions.

C.By offering descriptions. D.By analyzing reasons.

30、   The past six months have been one of a great challenge. A close friend of mine, Joanne, _______ the end of her life. She knew it, and instead of regretting and crying, she _______ it and as she died last week I thought of how a shooting star _______ so brightly as it trails the universe, right before it _______.

It was a great _______ to have her company these past months. One of the last things she asked me was to find an organization _______ women coming out of prison, to _______ her business clothing to them for job interviews. We found such a _______ here in Raleigh where I live. I didn’t know the exact _______ of it, but it’s probably called a “Reentry” service or program and many countries and __________ have them all over the world.

I __________ her donation before she died, and thought of doing a clothing drive(衣服捐赠) __________ Joanne’s life and inviting others to gift clothing to __________ more people at the program. Well. I’m so __________ to share that it went really well. We had a lot of __________ filling the joyful business clothes for men and women.

It didn’t __________ anything but gas, time and love. __________ she is gone, I felt like we did it __________. My dear mother helped me too, and it felt so good to __________ something inspired by Joanne’s life for __________ blessing a population of people that most often is overlooked.

【1】A.lost B.forgot C.escaped D.approached

【2】A.accepted B.admired C.forbade D.hated

【3】A.fades B.disappears C.occurs D.shines

【4】A.breaks out B.goes out C.sets out D.turns out

【5】A.desire B.pity C.privilege D.benefit

【6】A.supporting B.opposing C.arresting D.attracting

【7】A.destroy B.provide C.collect D.throw

【8】A.program B.method C.behavior D.challenge

【9】A.change B.cause C.chance D.name

【10】A.halls B.cities C.restaurants D.schools

【11】A.discovered B.researched C.delivered D.inspired

【12】A.in honor of B.in charge of C.in spite of D.in search of

【13】A.balance B.condemn C.bless D.grasp

【14】A.nervous B.angry C.afraid D.excited

【15】A.treasures B.donations C.troubles D.decorations

【16】A.cost B.save C.reform D.seize

【17】A.As if B.Now that C.Even if D.In case

【18】A.forever B.immediately C.together D.perfectly

【19】A.notice B.organize C.click D.apply

【20】A.absence B.talent C.ignorance D.kindness

31、After typhoon, I went to the disaster-stricken area to look after rescued animals. There I met Lucy, another _________.

Lucy operates an animal _________ center. When I came to her website, I _________ a picture of Victor, a dog. I asked Lucy about Victor. She told me that she rescued Victor from a _________ man who’d thrown him around or put him into a tiny box. Victor had _________ on Lucy’s lap for several hours while she assured him he was safe and _________ to find him a loving home.

I decided to _________ Victor. I renamed him “Chase” for his _________ for chasing everything. Months later, Chase’s love for people and his _________ nature led us to earn a therapy-dog certification and start a __________ program at the local ________.

Kids read out to Chase to __________ their skills. Sometimes, even a kid who is __________ with reading will be comfortable doing so to a dog.

One little girl jumped up and down when she saw Chase entering the library. Her joyful enthusiasm made me __________ . When Chase greeted’ her with a __________ , she clapped and said, “Look, Mommy, he’s bowing!” Chase gave her his undivided __________ while she read him a story. When her time was up, she signed up to read again.

I’m grateful for everything about Chase that made this girl jump so __________. I hadn’t __________ him to bow; he’d bowed naturally. I’d known the library visits would be about helping kids learn to read. But I hadn’t realized what a __________ builder those visits would be for kids who were shy or didn’t fit in. Chase was also a wonderful ambassador (形象大使) for dogs—teaching kids to be loving and __________ to animals.

【1】

A．journalist

B．teacher

C．doctor

D．volunteer

【2】

A．health

B．rescue

C．treatment

D．recovery

【3】

A．studied

B．took

C．viewed

D．commented

【4】

A．noble-minded

B．ill-willed

C．bad-tempered

D．kind-hearted

【5】

A．trembled

B．depended

C．slept

D．barked

【6】

A．promised

B．managed

C．failed

D．pretended

【7】

A．support

B．adopt

C．accompany

D．meet

【8】

A．hope

B．talent

C．desire

D．passion

【9】

A．gentle

B．boring

C．competitive

D．ambitious

【10】

A．writing

B．comforting

C．reading

D．learning

【11】

A．library

B．school

C．hospital

D．nursery

【12】

A．manage

B．examine

C．search

D．practise

【13】

A．arguing

B．dealing

C．struggling

D．working

【14】

A．weep

B．smile

C．think

D．stay

【15】

A．bow

B．gift

C．wave

D．hand

【16】

A．benefit

B．interest

C．affection

D．attention

【17】

A．sadly

B．truly

C．happily

D．properly

【18】

A．asked

B．trained

C．invited

D．chosen

【19】

A．experience

B．confidence

C．appreciation

D．fortune

【20】

A．rude

B．familiar

C．loyal

D．caring

32、   As the train pulled out, the passengers slowly settled down on their seats. I reserved the lower berth(卧铺), so I could enjoy the beauty outside from the moving train. An elderly lady _______ the front seat of mine. Looking at her, I guessed she must be in her eighties. At one point, our eyes _______, she smiled at me, and with politeness, I gave her response. Both of us were _______. And the train was _______ its speed.

It was 4:50 pm, evening time. So, _______ time was still a long way off. I couldn't _______my curiosity any longer and asked, “Auntie! Where are you going?”

She looked at me and kindly said, “_______ camp, dear.”

Suddenly my enthusiasm _______ to know the reason. I politely said, “Aunty, you are visiting someone?”

She smiled _______ and said, “Yes!”

Just to continue the ________, I talked to her in a very merry mood, “Auntie, you must be feeling so ________ to see your child or your grand children.”

Perhaps, this question ________ her a little but bravely she answered, “Oh, dear! You are so sweet! Anyways, I had only one son who joined the army but was ________ by the terrorist attack just few days before. I bought so many new winter ________ for him. I thought why I would not ________ my son's clothes to some other ________. So I would control my ________ and would be relieved ________ that my own son has worn it.”

I was shocked hearing her ________ story! But I saluted the old lady from the bottom of my heart, for her ________ heart!

【1】A.occupied B.served C.covered D.offered

【2】A.rolled B.touched C.met D.lowered

【3】A.busy B.silent C.shy D.friendly

【4】A.taking up B.picking up C.bringing up D.giving up

【5】A.bed B.study C.work D.leisure

【6】A.satisfy B.decide C.show D.resist

【7】A.Sports B.Tourist C.Winter D.Army

【8】A.doubled B.came C.stopped D.faded

【9】A.secretly B.proudly C.falsely D.nervously

【10】A.journey B.tradition C.conversation D.friendship

【11】A.surprised B.excited C.worried D.scared

【12】A.hooked B.tired C.amazed D.hurt

【13】A.killed B.injured C.trapped D.frightened

【14】A.food B.shoes C.clothes D.books

【15】A.lent B.sold C.sewed D.spared

【16】A.passengers B.soldiers C.charities D.camps

【17】A.sorrow B.temper C.behaviour D.loneliness

【18】A.dreaming B.realizing C.thinking D.knowing

【19】A.adventurous B.interesting C.boring D.heartbreaking

【20】A.sad B.light C.brave D.heavy

33、   I had always  hated playing  chess. Up until a few months ago, I don’t think  I ever_____ a  chess game in my life. Actually, I didn’t have a______ about how to play. I knew the rules, but that’s it. I had tried to _________  playing chess most of my life, even though it _________  that it should be a great game to play.

I started playing again just as a ________  to stay in touch with my friend who moved abroad.  We play ______ .  But nothing  has  changed. He  still ______  me  easily every time.  After six   months of getting kicked all over the _______ , I decided to learn something about the game. I   finally___ losing.

I _______  somebody must have made a video or a clear book on the _______  of chess, so I   started looking and was astonished at how much good ______  is out there. I got some and played  lots of games with my computer,______ some of the stuff I was learning. And what do you know? Not only did I start to play a lot ________ , but the game became as fun as I always ________  it should be. It’s interesting and___ . It’s just like playing a game of___ . It’s a great battle.

I’m no Grandmaster. Not even close. But the _______ between me two months ago and me now is amazing. I_____ learned a few important basic principles, and now suddenly I know the game. And that’s the first lesson I learned about chess that ______ to living life well:  It really helps to learn some basics.

【1】A.lost B.played C.won D.missed

【2】A.clue B.question C.dream D.choice

【3】A.keep B.admit C.deny D.avoid

【4】A.mattered B.seemed C.happened D.proved

【5】A.way B.joke C.cause D.change

【6】A.indoors B.everywhere C.online D.overseas

【7】A.defeated B.disappointed C.guided D.assisted

【8】A.body B.world C.board D.field

【9】A.made use of B.got tired of C.had fun with D.got away with

【10】A.declared B.approved C.figured D.regretted

【11】A.benefits B.origin C.spirit D.basics

【12】A.pleasure B.culture C.interest D.material

【13】A.practicing B.suspecting C.improving D.recording

【14】A.worse B.less C.better D.harder

【15】A.required B.thought C.decided D.discovered

【16】A.relaxing B.puzzling C.touching D.challenging

【17】A.war B.speed C.chance D.trust

【18】A.success B.wisdom C.appearance D.difference

【19】A.just B.still C.even D.seldom

【20】A.leads B.applies C.objects D.adjusts

34、Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, becoming the first known case of human-animal 【1】, the zoo's chief veterinarian said on Sunday.

Nadia, the 4-year-old Malayan tiger that tested positive, was 【2】 for the COVID-19 disease after 【3】 a dry cough along with three other tigers and three lions, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the zoo, said in a statement.

All of the cats are expected to recover, it said. But officials believe this is a unique case because Nadia became sick after 【4】 to an asymptomatic zoo employee, Paul Calle, chief veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, told Reuters.

Calle said they did not know which employee infected the tiger. "This is the first time that we have discovered that a person infects the animal and the animal gets sick," Calle said, adding that they planned to share the findings with other zoos and institutions. " I guess 【5】 we will all have a better understanding as a result.

While the other tigers and lions were also 【6】 symptoms, the zoo decided to test only Nadia because she was the sickest and  had started to lose her appetite already, and they did not want to 【7】 all the cats to anesthesia(麻醉), Calle said.

Nadia 【8】 X-rays, an ultrasound(超声波) and blood tests to try to figure out what was making her sick . They decided to test for COVID-19 【9】 the surge in cases in New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States.The first tiger at the zoo, which has been shut since mid-March, began showing 【10】 of illness on March 27, according to the US Department of Agriculture National Veterinary Services Laboratories.

35、Directions: Complete the following passages by using the words in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Why Cold weather Causes So many Flight Cancellation?

Each year, about 60,000 flights get canceled because of bad winter weather, which costs airlines and airports an estimated $3 billion. But it’s not the freezing cold temperatures that cause problems for planes. After all, 【1】 jets fly 10 kilometers up, where temperatures hover around -50 degrees Celsius.

In fact, planes 【2】 in cold weather, since cold air is denser and leads to better thrust. Clearly, the real problem isn’t what’s going on up there. It’s what’s happening on the ground.

When a 【3】 polar vortex (极地涡旋) struck the Midwestern US in January 2019, temperatures dropped to -40 degrees Celsius and airline canceled 3,000 flights nationwide. In these situations, when temperatures start 【4】, everything slows down. Cargo doors can freeze up, along with the nozzles that pump fuel into planes, which delays the 【5】 process.

Even the plane itself can freeze over. Just a quarter-inch - thick layer of ice on a plane can disrupt the way air flows over its wings.

Les Westbrooks: The number one reason, I would say, that the reason flights get delayed in cold weather is going to be because there’s some kind of frozen precipitation, from frost to snow to a sheet of ice, adhering to the aircraft, adhering to the wings of the aircraft 【6】.

That’s Les Westbrooks, a retired airline pilot and an associate professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He says that 【7】, these planes are “de-iced” - but this also delays takeoff. The crew can spray the plane with a special hot water/ glycol mixture. It can take around 40 minutes to de-ice large passenger airplanes, so planes often have to wait “their turn” for the de-icing station, which, of course, can trigger more delays.

And ice on the runway, of course, creates another set of 【8】. In 2014, a plane at JFK skidded off an icy runway and into a mound of snow, leading to an hours-long shutdown at the airport. And even though crews can remove ice from the runway, scraping it off the pavement can lead to potholes (坑洞) and other 【9】, which makes takeoffs and landings more dangerous. And of course, snow and freezing rain on the ground can affect visibility to the point where officials have to decide it’s not safe to fly at all.

But if ice and snow aren’t the problem in these extremely cold temperatures, it’s usually another factor: people.

Les Westbrooks: The airplane flies at high altitudes, -60 degrees. It’s made to do that. Humans are not made to be outside in -60 degrees weather. And so the human factor becomes a big, big factor, when it becomes extremely cold.

Baggage handlers, aircraft fuelers, and mechanics all have to stay warm. Some airports, like O’Hare in Chicago, set up heated shelters for their employees. Of course, with everyone taking breaks to warm up, not as much gets done, which leads to even more delays and cancellations. Passengers start missing their 【10】 flights, and that, along with passengers who can’t make it to the airport due to bad road conditions, leads to half-empty planes.

In fact, many airlines might preemptively cancel flights before bad weather even hits. So, in the end, you can still blame cold weather for cancelling your flight.

36、Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

AI artwork sells for $432,500 — nearly 45 times its high【1】 — as Christie’s becomes the first auction house to offer a work of art created by an algorithm. This portrait, however, is not the product of a human mind. It was created by an【2】 intelligence, an algorithm defined by that algebraic formula with its many parentheses. And when it went under the【3】 in the Prints & Multiples sale at Christie’s on 23-25 October, Portrait of Edmond Belamy sold for an【4】 $432,500, signaling the arrival of AI art on the world auction stage.

From a distance, Portrait of Edmond de Belamy looks almost plausible. Up close, however, the paintwork becomes a grid of mechanical-looking dots, the man’s face a golden blur with black holes for eyes. Look into those eyes. They show no sign of feeling or life. Did a computer make this?

The answer is yes. The first artwork【5】 by AI to be sold at Christie’s, its【6】 price would seem to suggest that in future we will get computers to make art for us. Robot van Gogh will harmlessly cut its ear off and robot Picasso will be a genius.

Is this the future AI art visionaries such as the French collective Obvious, which programmed this “painter” by getting it to compare its own work with 15,000 pre-20th century portraits, have in mind? Or are they just, God forbid, making a fast buck from deceivable art collectors? Because believing the algorithm that knocked this up to be in any meaningful way an “artist” is like thinking your voice-interaction programme is out to get you. Dream on. Computers would need to replicate human consciousness before they could replicate the funny thing humans do called “art”.

Art is a way in which human 【7】 expresses itself, and is equally true of the earliest cave art, Rembrandt’s portraits and Duchamp’s urinal. And that is what is missing from Portrait of Edmond Bellamy. Art is a way humans communicate ideas, perceptions and feelings to each other. It has no 【8】 outside the human passion to communicate. So in what meaningful sense can an AI replica of certain【9】 traits of old master paintings be called art?

For a robot to really make art, it would need an autonomous mind that was emotional as well as【10】. No AI developer has yet claimed to be anywhere near achieving that and if they ever do, their creation will probably have better things to do than paint portraits — like destroy humanity.

Maybe afterwards robots will invent their own kind of art, but it won’t be some poor pastiche of human genius.

It will be beyond anything we organics could imagine.

37、Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Driving an electric car 【1】 to the protection of environment, or so the marketing departments of their makers would have you believe. Yet a report which analyzes car emissions presents a rather different picture. A battery-powered car recharged with 【2】 generated by coal-fired power stations, it found, is likely to be more harmful. It could cause more than three times as many deaths from pollution as a 【3】 petrol-driven vehicle.

The study was carried out by the University of Minnesota. The researchers estimated how levels of fine particulate matter (细颗粒物) and ground-level ozone — two important 【4】 of air pollution — would change when a car is powered by different ways.

It was no surprise that electric cars whose batteries were recharged with power from wind, solar or hydro-electric sources came out to be virtually free from harmful 【5】. They were estimated to cause 231 deaths over the course of a year, compared with 878 for petrol cars. Electric cars recharged with power from natural gas-fired stations were also a lot less harmful than petrol-driven ones, with 439 deaths. But if those same electric cars were recharged 【6】 by coal, they would be responsible for over 3,000 deaths.

Biofuels also caused more health problems than petrol. But diesel, which often  【7】 concern about pollution, is slightly cleaner than petrol. This is because the study assumes for all cars that emission-control technologies will be more widely used, especially particulate filters which have a remarkable effect on cleaning diesel 【8】. Diesel cars are also more 【9】 of fuel than petrol-driven ones.

Overall, the study shows that electric cars are cleaner than those traditional vehicles only if the power used to charge then is also clean. That is hardly a surprise, but the 【10】 of the difference is. How green electric cars really are, then, will depend mainly on where they are driven. In France, which obtains more than half of its power from nuclear station, electric cars look like a good bet. In China and some other developing countries, where a large amount of electricity is produced from coal, they may not be so environment- friendly as they are marketed.

38、假如你是李华，你的一位英国笔友Tom想来中国旅游，不知道去哪儿更好。你向他推荐了你的家乡扬州,请根据以下提示写一封电子邮件。

内容包括:

1.写信目的;

2.推荐理由(至少两条); .

3.你的祝愿。

注意:

1.词数80左右;

2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;

3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Tom,

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes!

Yours

Li Hua

39、现在越来越多的大学生选择了作为志愿者到穷困地区支教，但有些人嘲笑他们是傻子，请你结合下面的要点写一篇英语短文，谈一谈你对这一问题的看法：

1. 志愿者们的选择是正确而光荣的。

2. 他们教会了孩子们通过学习知识来改变命运。

3. 他们点燃了孩子们人生旅程中希望的火炬。

词汇提示：志愿者：volunteer；穷困地区：backward areas；光荣的：glorious；火炬：torch

注意：1.词数120-150。

2.可适当增加细节。

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

40、请阅读下面短文，并按要求用英语写一篇150个词左右的英语短文。

Young Chinese parents embracing e-books for children

Chinese children are spending more time reading digital books as young parents are increasingly open to the idea, research shows.

The amount of time children under 9 spend reading e-books every day increased almost 20 percent to 24. 3 minutes between 2016 and 2017, according to a joint study by e-book company Kada Story and teaching consultancy TAL Education Group.

A three-year study of 6, 030 parents found that almost 70 percent said they are willing to let their children use mobile phones and tablets, while 25 percent of those born in the 1990s or later said they let their children spend more than 40 minutes a day on mobile devices.

Parents in first-tier cities are more likely to let their children use mobile devices, with children in Beijing spending almost 70 minutes a day using the gadgets.

“Digital reading is an important skill for children to master in this age of information explosion, ” said Wang Jing, chief editor of Kada Story.

However, not all parents want their children to read digitally.

“I fear e-books will negatively affect my son’s attention span or expose him to inappropriate content, ” said Xie Wenfeng, mother of a 7-year-old boy in Shanghai.

She said she believed books in print are better for the eyes and do not affect sleep. “I also worry about possible addiction to e-books.” she added.

（写作内容）

1.用约30个单词写出上文概要;

2.用约120个单词发表你的观点，内容包括:

(1)支持或反对家长让孩子读电子书籍；

(2)并用2-3个理由或论据支撑你的观点。

（写作要求）

1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文中的句子;

2. 文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称;

3. 不必写标题。

（评分标准）

内容完整,语言规范,语篇连贯,词数适当。

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

41、假如你是李华，你的留学生朋友Tony对戏剧很感兴趣，请你用电子邮件告知他本周末你们学校戏剧社将举办戏剧Pygmalion的排练活动并邀请他参加，内容包括：

1. 排练地点和时间；

2. 具体的活动内容。

注意：1. 词数100左右；开头已给出，不计入总数。

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

可能用到的词汇：戏剧drama 排练rehearsal

Dear Tony,

How’s it going?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Lihua