本试卷共100分，考试时长90分钟。
第一部分：知识运用（共两节，30分）
第一节（共10小题；每小题1.5分，共15分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
My friendship with the students in a primary school in Uganda started on a shaky ground. The 1______ of not being understood was hidden within, for they spoke a language different from that of mine and mine too fell on deaf ears.
I greeted them with a wide smile, and when I spoke further, they replied with ice cold __2__. A reminder echoed in my mind: you must live through it to get to them. So I gave it another try. I spoke __3____ English with hand gestures and a bit of dancing. If all failed, the smile would 4__. Soon we picked up and then the __5____ of the learners came into play. At the mention of a name, trembles and face covering were the response I got. I decided to __6____ a desk with a team each day during group work to get closer. After school, I accompanied them home.
__7__, we became friends. They were even aware of my favorite fruit, avocado (牛油果). If I didn’t get one on my desk, it would __8____ me wherever I was. My slippers were worn out. One night I left them out as no one could steal a pair of slippers in that state. The next morning, I was ready to drag my slippers on as usual and I was surprised they had been __9__. Wow!
The little things we do for each other bring us great joy and warmth. We don’t have a proper spoken language, but we are fluent in the language of __10__.
1. A. anger B. fear C. confusion D. disappointment
2. A. agreement B. blame C. comment D. silence
3. A. simple B. official C. academic D. unusual
4. A. turn up B. break off C. take over D. fade away
5. A. shyness B. laziness C. loneliness D. calmness
6. A. clear B. share C. search D. exchange
7. A. Suddenly B. Obviously C. Accidentally D. Gradually
8. A. hit B. find C. catch D. hunt
9. A. packed B. cleaned C. repaired D. abandoned
10. A. sympathy B. admiration C. friendship D. confidence
第二节
语法填空(共10小题；每小题1.5分，共15分)
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
A
Brian Skerry is an underwater photo journalist. As part of his job, he encounters mysterious sea __11____ (creature) such as whales and sharks. To get the best photo, Skerry gets close to the wildlife—even if it’s dangerous. One time in Mexico, a squid grabbed Skerry as he __12____ (take) a photo.
Why does Skerry take these risks? He hopes his photographs will make people think about life in the oceans. As Skerry says, “The oceans are in real trouble. As a journalist, the most important thing I can do is to raise public __13____ (aware).”
B
In the past few years, researchers at Lund University __14____ (publish) several papers on dogs’ ability to detect the warmth of a body without touching it. Their results show that, from 5 feet away, dogs can reliably tell the difference __15____ a 4-inch object at body temperature and one at room temperature. The scientists identified a set of nerves in a dog’s nose __16____ appear to be responsible. The skin on a dog’s nose can absorb the tiny amount of infrared light (红外线) leaking from a warm object, and the nerves inside the skin quickly sense that extra energy, __17__(signal) to the brain that something warm is nearby.
C
Some American cities are banning drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants. There are two basic reasons for the bans: concern for the environment and the need __18____ (fight) obesity.
In the US, most adults drive automobiles and almost 40% of the adults are overweight. That’s partly __19____ people are worried about the environment and unhealthy diets. Supporters of the bans hope fewer drive-through windows __20____ (reduce) litter and air pollution from customers driving cars. Some also think that people will choose healthier food if there is no longer the convenience of a drive-through window.
第二部分：阅读理解(共两节，38分)
第一节(共14小题；每小题2分，共28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
Emergencies are scary, but there is now a new smart ring on the market that will quickly call for help when you need it most. Meet Nimb, a ring that includes a panic button. It lets you send emergency alerts (警报) to preset contacts from its mobile app with the touch of a thumb. Whether you are being attacked or experiencing a serious health problem, Nimb will help keep you safe and sound.
Smart Ring to the Rescue
The story behind the development with this new technology is unique and touching. In 2010, Kathy Roma, who is the co-founder and communications lead with Nimb, was violently attacked by a complete stranger and was on the brink of death. She suffered multiple stab wounds in a safe neighborhood, just a few feet away from a police station. Her saving grace wasn’t just her fight and drive to survive, but the call for help.
Since then, she has been searching to find a way for others to have a voice when they’re in need of help and has been a driving force in the development of this new technology. And Nimb is easy to use. All you need to do when you are in trouble is press its button for three seconds and an instant message will be sent to your contacts. Your contacts will get instant emergency alerts on their smartphones and tablets. This smart ring tracks your exact location in real time and your contacts will know where you are at all times.
Nimb’s app includes an alert card, and built-in chat and notification features. The ring is compatible (兼容的) with Bluetooth 4+, iOS 7+ and Android 4+. It is also equipped with a rechargeable LiPo Battery that will last about two weeks, and is designed to withstand water and dust.
Nimb: Stay Safe in Style
What makes this smart ring extra special is that it is cool and futuristic looking. It comes in two colors: Stealth Black and Classic White. The ring is available in US ring sizes 4-12, which means you can wear it on any of your fingers. There’s no doubt this new technology will be a hit on the market: everyone wants to have that extra piece of mind when it comes to health and safety. Nimb retails for $129.
21. Nimb is designed to help users _____________.
A. relieve pain in stressful situations
B. warn friends of surrounding dangers
C. call contacts for help in emergencies
D. keep track of serious health problems
22. Kathy Roma got the idea of Nimb from _____________.
A. her experience of being attacked
B. her desire to have a voice in technology
C. her dream of founding her own company
D. her drive to survive from a serious disease
23. How do you use Nimb when you are in trouble?
A. By editing an emergency message.
B. By pressing a button for three seconds.
C. By tracking the location of preset contacts.
D. By sending alerts to the smartphones nearby.
B
It was a reading class. While all her classmates were flying through the 2nd and 3rd books in the Harry Potter series, Skye Malik, only on page four of the first book, got impossibly stuck on the word “doughnut”.
Her unexpected difficulty with reading is called dyslexia. Skye got a professional diagnosis at the end of the 2nd grade. Knowing that other kids were going through the same thing made it easier on her somehow. What wasn’t easy, even after all the help she got from special tutors and reading programs, was fluent reading. What many people do without thinking–reading–she had to struggle with word by word, sometimes letter by letter. In class, she would hear the other kids flip through the pages on assignments and go on to the questions while she was still doing battle with the first paragraph.
She was as frustrated as she was discouraged. But she didn’t know of any other way until her 4th grade teacher, Miss Pollock, told her about something called Learning Ally.
Learning Ally is a non-profit organization that offers audio versions of books. A crew of volunteer readers has recorded 75,000 classic novels, children’s books, and school textbooks that help more than 300,000 students and adults with learning differences or who are blind. Now Skye could listen to the books with her ears and follow the words with her eyes on the page. Instead of having her mother read her textbooks to her, she could independently do her work. “With Learning Ally, I feel confident and capable and can easily keep up with my classmates,” Skye explains, “and I want other kids to feel empowered, just the way I did.”
So Skye, now aged 16, created The Paco Project which was named after her grandfather whose nickname was “Paco”. The Paco Project is a fundraiser and educational initiative focusing on giving students with dyslexia access to the same Learning Ally technology that changed her life.
Skye has realized that she is one of the lucky kids who have been diagnosed. She knows that educating teachers about dyslexia and giving students with the learning challenge the tools they need is a great first step in meeting dyslexia head on, and helping them be confident, capable students.
“Right now they feel stuck—ashamed, unsure and insecure about their school work. If I could help stop these students feeling this way, that would mean the world to me.”
24. According to the passage, Skye _____________.
A. found a way out with the help of Miss Pollock
B. felt annoyed at being teased by her classmates
C. preferred reading the first book of Harry Potter
D. was diagnosed with dyslexia in her fourth grade
25. The Paco Project was created _____________.
A. to promote Learning Ally technology
B. to empower those with reading difficulty
C. with inspiration from Skye’s grandfather
D. in response to the growing demands of teachers
26. The passage is mainly about _____________.
A. what people with dyslexia are suffering
B. what measures are needed to beat dyslexia
C. how Learning Ally influenced people with dyslexia
D. how Skye battled against dyslexia and helped others
C
The philosopher, Martin Buber, is most known for his work on “I-Thou/You” relationships in which people are open, direct, mutually interested in each other. In contrast, “I-It” relationships are those in which we use the other, like an object, to solve our problems and fulfill our needs and purposes.
It is not our fault that many of our relationships are or become “It” relationships because most of what we feel, think and do is motivated by unconscious memories of how to survive the environment into which we were born. Thus, one of the reasons we use other people to help us feel better about ourselves and cope in the world is that using people was once necessary and it worked. When we were small and helpless, “It” came and fed us, and held us, and set us on our way. We didn’t have to reciprocate and care for “It”. Even when the care and attention of “It” was minimal or unpredictable, if we got out of childhood alive, somewhere along the way “It” was involved.
Freud called this stage of early life “primary narcissism”, which is our instinct (本能) for self-preservation and is a normal part of our development. While most of us grow out of it, we still hold a survival fear, which motivates us to escape danger and to stay alive, and we all need this fear in healthy measure.
The problem is that too many of us, too much of the time, are in a constant state of threat—and we often don’t know it. We imagine people are talking about us behind our backs, that we have cancer, that we are inadequate, and vulnerable to more than our share of bad luck. As our brains have grown in size and complexity, so has our ability to scare ourselves.
This causes many problems. For example, our stress levels increase, our digestion is impaired and our thinking becomes restricted. Our threat response stops any bodily function, feeling, thought and behavior that might “waste” energy and detract from fighting or escaping danger. Thus, when in threat, our emotional, cognitive and behavioral range is significantly reduced.
And in this reduced state, one of our solutions is to find someone who can save and comfort us. Instead of enabling us to be open, direct and mutual, fear and anxiety lead us towards conversations and choices in our relations with others that are orientated towards surviving–not thriving (茁壮成长). Threat-motivated relationships are characterized by need, dependency, control, demand, dishonesty, and self-interest.
We cannot form the “I-Thou” relationships that Buber speaks of until we have learned to notice, comfort, and understand the emotions and patterns of our threat brain. When in threat, we tend to use other people as objects who can save and protect us, or who we can blame for our problems.
27. What does the underlined word “reciprocate” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. Return the favour. B. Ask for some advice.
C. Convey an apology. D. Make some comments.
28. What can we learn about “primary narcissism”?
A. It leads to our survival fear. B. It is normal and usually temporary.
C. It impacts our growth negatively. D. It lays the foundation for Freud’s theory.
29. Which of the following could be an example of “I-It” relationships?
A. Comforting an upset friend. B. Feeling sorry for your mistakes.
C. Trying hard to be independent. D. Asking others to take on your task.
30. What would be the best title for this passage?
A. How We Can Form the “I-Thou” Relationships
B. How We Can Get Out of the “I-It” Relationships
C. Why We Treat Others as Objects Rather Than Individuals
D. What Helps Us Survive and Thrive in Early Stages of Life
D
Move Over, Selfish Gene
Evolution traditionally has a problem with nice people. If only the fittest individuals survive, then those who are nice to others at their own expense will surely be weeded out. Yet cooperation is widespread in nature, from plants alerting each other to danger to dolphins cooperating to round up fish.
A decades-old idea called kin selection can explain some of this: if organisms (生物) have enough DNA in common, then they can further their own selfish genes by helping one another. Bees and ants have a system of reproduction which leaves colony members so closely related that they act almost as a single super-organism. And among any sexually reproducing species, parental care helps individuals pass on their genes.
But kin selection cannot explain why humans are so nice to strangers. One idea is that we have evolved to be super-cooperative because, over time, more cooperative groups have utcompeted less cooperative ones. But there generally isn’t enough genetic variation between groups to allow natural selection to favor more cooperative ones.
Some researchers think the solution lies in an idea called cultural group selection. Forget shared genes, they argue. Selection can favor cooperative groups if the people within them share enough culture. The idea is controversial because to work it requires that groups remain culturally distinct. As critics point out, people tend to migrate (迁移) between groups, which should homogenize (使同质化) ideas and customs. Those who back the concept counter that groups have ways to maintain their distinct culture, including a process called norm (准则) enforcement. Put simply, if someone migrates into a new cultural group, they are pressured into following the local rules because failing to do so leads to punishment.
Earlier this year, Mathew and Handley at Arizona State University published a study testing the idea. They sampled 759 people from four ethnic groups in Kenya who compete intensively for land, water and livestock. The pair estimated that genetic differences between individuals from different groups was generally less than 15%. Cultural practices and beliefs varied much more, by 10% to 20%. People cooperated most with members of their own group, as cultural group selection predicts, and to a lesser extent with members of other groups whose norms most closely matched their own. That makes sense if culture rather than genetics is what matters. “I think this is one of the most explicit tests of cultural group selection theory so far,” says Mathew.
Not everyone is persuaded. Krasnow at Harvard University sees no theoretical flaw with the idea, but says that some of his research undermines it. He has found that people don’t just enforce the rules within their group, but also punish people from other groups who fail to follow their own group’s norms. Mathew counters that it is reasonable to enforce the norms on outsiders as a step towards incorporating (使并入) them into your cultural group. “This is often how empires expand,” she says.
31. The example of bees and ants is used to _____________.
A. highlight the significant role of reproduction
B. demonstrate the efficiency of a super-organism
C. reveal why parents care about their selfish genes
D. explain the cause of organisms helping one another
32. For the idea of cultural group selection to work, a pre-condition is that _____________.
A. cooperative groups have a larger chance of survival
B. genetic variations in the same cultural group are small
C. cultural differences are weakened with people migrating
D. cultural distinctiveness can be preserved with certain methods
33. The text is developed mainly through _____________.
A. sorting information into different topics B. narrating events in time order
C. presenting doubts and exploring answers D. discussing similarities and differences
34. We can learn from the passage that _____________.
A. culture plays a more significant role in choosing cooperators
B. being selfish is of vital importance for an individual to survive
C. Mathew’s study result contradicts what cultural group selection predicts
D. people joining a new group will be punished for not keeping their own culture
第二节(共5小题；每小题2分，共10分)
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
The Changing Landscape of the Music Business
The music industry is in the process of a great change. In the past decades, artists made money through physical sales of records, CDs, and cassettes. While in recent years, downloading songs from services such as Amazon or iTunes has become the most common way for people to purchase music, and the whole idea of buying music to own may be falling. To take its place are Internet apps that stream music directly to listeners on their smartphones, tablets, or computers. 35____ While this is great for fans, who now have access to millions of songs at the flick of a touchscreen, it has shattered the traditional model of how an artist manages his or her career.
With music lovers increasingly moving away from making one-time purchases towards an all-you-can-listen-to service, what is a hard-working artist to do? The main problem facing many musicians is that payments-per-stream of a song are much lower than what an artist would receive from a download. __36____ In November of 2014, award-winning musician Taylor Swift pulled her entire music catalog from Spotify, a popular streaming app, claiming that their business model suggests that music does not hold much worth.
__37____ They claim that it offers smaller artists a chance for their music to get heard by a wider audience. Brian Message, manager of the band Radiohead, has come out in support of streaming services. He sees them as a way for musicians and fans to interact.
Regardless of what artists may think about this change in the music industry, there’s no arguing that they need to adapt in order to make money. __38__
Corporate sponsorship can be a risky option for musicians. A band can make much money by agreeing to promote a product or license its music for use in advertisements, but there are many ways that this can backfire. When bands work with businesses, they may lose the image they have worked to create. __39____ Artists must develop an image that appeals to their fans in order to remain unique and authentic, or they risk striking the wrong chord, which could leave them struggling to sustain careers in this new business landscape.
A. Others have welcomed the idea of streaming music.
B. However, those forms of media are quickly fading away.
C. Some big-name artists have called attention to the issue.
D. The rules could be different for smaller bands just starting out.
E. Maintaining a fine image while working on a career is certainly tricky.
F. One major shift is the growth in partnership between artists and businesses.
G. These apps are available either as free versions or as monthly subscription services.
第三部分：书面表达(共两节，32分)
第一节
阅读表达(共4小题；第40、41小题各2分，第42小题3分，第43小题5分，共12分)
阅读下面短文，根据题目要求回答问题。
The increase in online education has allowed a new type of teacher to emerge–an artificial one. But just how accepting students are of an artificial instructor remains to be seen. That’s why researchers at the University of Central Florida’s Nicholson School of Communication and Media are working to examine student perceptions of AI-based teachers. Some of their findings, published recently in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, indicate that for students to accept an AI teaching assistant, it needs to be effective and easy to talk to.
According to Jihyun Kim, the lead author of the study, the hope is that by understanding how students relate to AI-teachers, engineers and computer scientists can design them to easily integrate into the education experience.
“To use machine teachers effectively, we need to understand students’ views on machine teachers, their learning experiences with them and more,” Kim says. “This line of research is needed to design effective machine teachers that can actually facilitate positive learning experiences.”
AI teaching assistants can help ease a teacher’s workload, such as by responding to commonly asked questions by students. These questions, which often appear each semester and become numerous in online classes with hundreds of students, can become a large task for a teacher. The quick delivery, of answers also helps students.
An example of an AI teaching assistant is one named Jill Watson that was created by a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Jill was fed the thousands of questions and answers commonly asked in the researcher’s online class that he’d taught over the years. With some additional learning and adjustments, Jill was eventually able to answer the students’ commonly asked questions accurately without any human assistance as if she was one of the researcher’s human teaching assistants.
“I hope our research findings help us find an effective, way to incorporate AI agents into education,” Kim says. “By adopting an AI agent as an assistant for a simple and repetitive task, teachers would be able to have more things scheduled such as meeting with students and developing teaching strategies.”
40. What kind of AI teaching assistants can students easily accept?
41. What do researchers need to do to design effective AI teaching assistants?
42. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why. With the help of AI-based teaching assistants, human teachers can not only be relieved from heavy work but also have more time to answer commonly asked questions by students.
43. Explain how AI technology can be used in a different field in our life. (about 40 words)
第二节(20分)
假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。你的英国笔友Jim在给你的邮件中提到他最近过度使用手机，日常生活受到影响，他为此感到苦恼。请你给他回复邮件，内容包括：
1. 表示理解；
2. 你的建议及理由。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
【试题答案】
第一部分
知识运用
第一节
完形填空
1. B 2. D 3. A 4. C 5. A 6. B 7. D 8. B 9. C 10. C
第二节
语法填空
11. creatures 12. was taking 13. awareness 14. have published 15. between
16. that/which 17. signaling/ signaling 18. to fight 19. why 20. will reduce
第二部分
阅读理解
第一节
21. C 22. A 23. B 24. A 25. B 26. D 27. A 28. B 29. D 30. C 31. D 32. D 33. C 34. A
第二节
35. G 36. C 37. A 38. F 39. E
第三部分
书面表达
第一节
40. Ones that are effective and easy to talk to.
41. They need to understand students’ views on machine teachers, their learning experiences with them and more.
42. With the help of AI-based teaching assistants, human teachers can not only be relieved from heavy work but also have__more__time__to__answer__commonly__asked__questions__by__students.
According to the passage, it is the AI-based teaching assistants rather than teachers that can answer commonly asked questions by students.
43. AI is widely used in the field of transportation. Using AI, the navigation systems in cars and on cellphones are able to recommend the best routes based on real time traffic data. Also, AI can be used to make self-driving vehicles more convenient and much safer.
第二节
One possible version:
Dear Jim,
I am sorry to know you are troubled by cellphone overuse. As a heavy cellphone user myself, I totally understand the stress and frustration you are feeling.
Fortunately, we can do a few things about it. For instance, we can set certain hours of the day as “cellphone time” and only pick up the phone during those hours. By doing so, we can reduce our screen time. We may also participate in group activities where we meet people face to face and thus don’t need to rely on the phone all the time to contact others.
I hope my suggestions can help and I’m sure you will get through this. Let me know if I can help in any way.
Yours,
Li Hua