| 1. 难度：困难 | |
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Looking smart in a blue button－down shirt，Jorge Magana，18，zipped through a PowerPoint(PPT) presentation with confidence. Seated in front of Magana in a classroom at Los Angeles High School of the Arts were three judges: the school’s Assistant Headmaster，a school coordinator，and a former student. The occasion was his senior defense. Magana was trying to convince the judges that he was ready to graduate. He had 45 minutes to present his portfolio(作品选集) from three aspects: one academic，one artistic，and one of his own choosing. The judges grilled him: Can you describe your research process? Which difficulties did you face and how did you overcome them? How will the skills you learned help with your future plans? Portfolio assessments like this one，which are considered by educators nationwide as a proven path to college success，have largely been squeezed out by standardized tests，the quicker，less costly measure of student performance. But the state’s reliance on test scores to rank school performance is about to change，and educators see an opportunity. For now，the goal at the Los Angeles Unified School District is to make the portfolio defense a graduation requirement. Ten high schools are testing the portfolio assessment，and there are plans to get more schools on board next school year. At first，many teachers at Los Angeles High School of the Arts thought the defense was unnecessary. Then，they actually witnessed the defenses. “You can see your students reflect on what they’ve learned，and see how that learning has affected them，” says Isabel Morales，a 12th grade social studies teacher. “Watching the defenses taught me how much my lessons count，how important it is for me to provide a new learning experience for my students. ” 1.Why is Jorge Magana mentioned in the text? A.To lead in the topic of the passage. B.To introduce what the senior defense is. C.To present how to make a senior defense. D.To stress difficulties of portfolio defenses. 2.What can we know about portfolio assessments from paragraph 3? A.They require low investment. B.They are being widely promoted. C.They completely replace standardized tests. D.They are common at high school. 3.What is Isabel Morales’ attitude to portfolio defenses? A.Disapproving. B.Worried. C.Doubtful. D.Supportive.
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| 2. 难度：困难 | |
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Life isn’t fair. That universal truth is something that children seem to understand at a young age，but the path through which they develop a sense of what’s fair and what isn’t—and how they act on injustices—is something that has been a puzzle for social scientists. To find out which aspects of fairness might be universal and which might be culturally driven，a team of scientists traveled to seven countries to study how different groups of children play fair. The researchers designed an “inequity(不公平) game” that they used to test 866 pairs of children aged 4 to 15 in Canada，India，Mexico，Peru，Senegal，Uganda and the United States. Two children of the same gender(性别) and similar age were seated across from each other and were offered some candy. Sometimes the allocations were equal and sometimes they were not. One of the two children got to decide whether both of them accepted the allocation or rejected it. The experiment was set up to work through a machine that required the child to pull one handle to accept the deal—resulting in the candy being poured into a bowl for two children each—and a different handle to reject it—pouring the sweets into a third bowl where neither one would get to eat them. In all seven countries，the results indicated a rejection of disadvantageous inequity. That is，when the children were allocated less candy than others，they tended to route all the treats into the bowl that no one could access. The reactions to advantageous inequity were more mixed. Children in only three countries—the United States，Canada and Uganda—had a tendency to reject unequal distributions of candy when they got more than others. “Given that these countries tend to stress principles of equality，it is possible that children in these countries face social pressures to learn these principles earlier，” the researchers wrote. 1.What does paragraph 3 talk about? A.The players of the game. B.The tools of the game. C.The rules of the game. D.The results of the game. 2.Which factor can significantly affect kids’ attitude to advantageous inequity? A.School education. B.Social environment. C.Parents’ influence. D.National development. 3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text? A.To discuss the importance of fairness. B.To draw readers’ attention to inequity. C.To offer kids some tips for rejecting inequity. D.To introduce a study on how kids play fair.
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| 3. 难度：中等 | |
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Cortana. Alexa. Siri. These are names of robotic voices that are often programmed on electronic tablets. They also become default(默认) identities for people with speech disorders who rely on technology to communicate. Now some speech scientists are developing personalized voices to reflect the broader diversity of the people who use them. To do it，they are tapping into a vast network of volunteers who are donating their voices to share with people who cannot speak. The effort to build an international “Human Voicebank” has attracted more than 17，000 volunteers from 110 countries，including Priyanka Pandya，a 16－year－old from Columbia，Md. ，who plans to spend her winter vacation recording a string of sentences into her computer. “To be able to give somebody the gift of voice，I think that’s really，really powerful，” she said. “Everyone has a voice，” said Rupal Patel，founder of VocaliD，the company that started the voicebank. “Even people who are unable to speak have sounds that are unique to them. ” Her company designs personalized voices by recording the unique sounds of the user，and then mixing them with 6 to 10 hours of recordings from a voice donor，matched by age，gender and region. The company is developing voices now for its first 100 customers. Also，people’s voices change. The company is looking for donors who are willing to record their voices，and then record them again a few years later，as they get older. But some of the first customers say they are happy with the results. John A. Gregoire was one of the first customers to receive a personalized voice from VocaliD last December. The voice came eight years after he developed ALS (肌萎缩侧索硬化症)and more than six years since his voice became unintelligible to everyone except his wife and youngest son. “Having a distinctive voice is like getting something back that was stolen，” John said. 1.What does the author say about the voicebank? A.It collects all kinds of voices. B.It gains strong public support. C.It helps to recognize special voices. D.It offers people personalized voices free. 2.The example of John A Gregoire is given in the text to stress ________. A.customers’ desire for personalized voices B.VocaliD’s efforts to develop personalized voices C.customers’ satisfaction with personalized voices D.VocaliD’s success in designing personalized voices 3.What does the underlined word “unintelligible” mean? A.Unclear. B.Soft. C.Incomplete. D.Rough. 4.What is the main idea of the text? A.VocaliD is devoted to building a voicebank. B.Volunteers donate their voices to VocaliD. C.The Human Voicebank helps people with speech problems. D.The Human Voicebank wins fame among speechless people.
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| 4. 难度：困难 | |
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How to create an effective action plan Creating a powerful action plan always begins with having a clear purpose or goal in mind. It is designed to take you from wherever you are right now directly to the accomplishment of your stated goal. 1. Know what you want to do. The less clear you are about what you want to do，the less effective your plan will be. 2.You may figure it out before starting your project. Work backwards from your end goal. Identify your end goal，then list everything you need to do to accomplish it. 3.After you know what you need to accomplish，break this down into small steps to help you create a more realistic plan. Break large tasks down into smaller ones. 4.If you’re feeling confused about a large task，what can help ease your anxiety and make it more practical is breaking it down into smaller ones. 5.Without specific time frames and deadlines，some tasks may never get completed. No matter what action items you choose for which stage of your action plan，it is significant that a time frame should be attached to absolutely everything. A. Put timelines on everything. B. Be clear about what you want to achieve anytime. C. Some tasks may seem more difficult to achieve than others. D. Try to specifically define what you want to achieve as early as possible. E. Keep in mind that your plan may change as you work toward your goal. F. Depending on your goal，you may even consider different ways to reach your goal. G. With a well－designed plan，you can achieve nearly any goal you set out to accomplish.
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| 5. 难度：中等 | |
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Moshe Kai Cavalin，a boy from San Gabriel，California，is only 17 years old. Yet he has already ________ so much. He has a university degree in ________. This year he started online classes in computer science and，it ________ him that NASA called to offer work after ________ him in the past because of his age. Meanwhile，he was encouraged to develop ________ at will. He just published his second book and planned to have his airplane pilot’s license by the year’s end. Still，Cavalin insists that he’s a(n) ________ person rather than a genius. He ________ his parents with years of focused instruction balanced by the ________ to pick his after－school activities. “My case isn’t that ________. It’s just a combination of parenting and ________，” he says. His parents say he was always a ________ study. At 4 months，he pointed to a ________ in the sky and said the Chinese word for airplane，his first word. Cavalin ________ the limits of his home schooling after studying trigonometry (三角学) at age 7. _______，his mom started driving him to community college. But his rapid rise hasn’t been without ________. Early in college，he once ________ being an astrophysicist (天体物理学家). But he ________ interest when he started taking advanced physics classes. At that time，software ________ him，which led him toward computer science，which ________ to be a better fit. Ricardo Arteaga，his boss at NASA，says Cavalin is ________ for a project that combines math，computer and aircraft technology. 1.A.suffered B.achieved C.learned D.contributed 2.A.engineering B.physics C.math D.astronomy 3.A.disappointed B.satisfied C.surprised D.relieved 4.A.rejecting B.connecting C.employing D.consulting 5.A.careers B.habits C.abilities D.hobbies 6.A.intelligent B.ordinary C.fortunate D.aggressive 7.A.respects B.appreciates C.supports D.credits 8.A.freedom B.access C.limit D.guide 9.A.common B.attractive C.accidental D.special 10.A.competition B.regulation C.motivation D.restriction 11.A.careful B.quick C.clever D.happy 12.A.star B.bird C.jet D.kite 13.A.changed B.hit C.created D.defined 14.A.However B.Besides C.Instead D.Therefore 15.A.twists B.difficulties C.struggles D.barriers 16.A.gave up B.objected to C.dreamed of D.went on 17.A.added B.lost C.showed D.generated 18.A.fascinated B.defeated C.requested D.reminded 19.A.came out B.brought out C.put out D.turned out 20.A.perfect B.anxious C.grateful D.ready
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| 6. 难度：中等 | |
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阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。 Beijing Zoo works hard to prevent people 1. feeding or otherwise harming animals. According to a report in Beijing Daily on Wednesday，those who feed animals in forbidden areas will have to pay 50 to 100 yuan (about $7. 50 to $15 ) as an official 2.(punish) in accordance with Beijing’s park regulations. Normally，food for animals 3.(provide) by zookeepers with the correct nutritional balance. Visitors who feed animals may cause indigestion(消化不良) or worse. In 2015，three deer at the Shanghai Zoo died after taking in uneatable material， 4.(include) plastic bags，thrown into the cages by visitors. Since the middle of last month，Beijing Zoo 5.(deal) with more than 300 cases in which animals were fed in forbidden areas. Meanwhile，the zoo has built feeding zones 6. zookeepers will regularly provide a certain amount of food visitors can use to feed the animals. “Hopefully， 7. new regulation will effectively stop the ones who like feeding the animals，which in fact is harming 8.(they)，” said Zheng Wei，31，a young mother of a 5－year－old girl. “We should teach our children 9.(correct)，rather than just having fun. Many tragedies (不幸) have already happened because of 10.(proper) feeding. ”
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| 7. 难度：中等 | |
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假定你是李华，在网上看到加拿大某学校的一则招收寒假短期游学学生的广告，你对此很感兴趣，决定给该校项目负责人写一封邮件，咨询具体的安排。内容包括： 1. 课程开设时间、内容、费用等； 2. 住宿情况。 注意：1. 词数80左右； 2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。 Dear Sir/Madam， ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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| 8. 难度：困难 | |
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阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。 Some people doubt the accuracy and reliability of the facial recognition technology. They need not，because the technology is highly advanced. It can distinguish a human face with or without glasses. Tests show it has a precision rate of more than 99 percent. Some argue that the fingerprint or iris (虹膜) recognition system is perhaps more accurate than the facial recognition system. True，but for iris recognition，a person has to hold his or her head still and look at the camera，which is time－consuming and thus not suitable for public spaces such as subway stations. And the fingerprint recognition system is not so secure，as some people can cheat the system by copying and using the fingerprints of other people to enter or exit a station. Facial recognition is a rather mature system. A facial recognition system collects people’s facial images from different angles，instead of one，and therefore minimizes the chance of cheating. Actually，it is already being applied in many fields such as unlocking smartphones and computers. Besides，facial recognition technology can also help the police to hunt escaped criminals in public spaces. However，the law says a citizen’s photo should not be collected for commercial use without his/her permission. To avoid such legal risks，some measures should be taken before the collection of passenger information. First，companies must ensure the collected facial images are only for public convenience，and will never be used for other commercial purposes，such as advertisements. Second，companies must take necessary measures to make sure not even a single one is leaked or sold to any third party without the passenger’s permission. Generally，advanced technologies are welcome to be used in public spaces，but people’s rights must be respected，at least to avoid legal risks. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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