浙江省91高中联盟2020-2021学年高二下学期英语期中考试试卷

Beijing-born Chloe Zhao made a historic win, becoming the first Asian woman director to take home the Golden Globe Award for Best Director on Sunday night in Los Angeles, causing a stir among domestic netizens.

Nomadland, Zhao's third film, grabbed two top awards, including Best Picture, at the 2021 Annual Golden Globe Awards, making her the second filmmaker of Chinese descent after Ang Lee to get the top directorial prize of the 78 year old event, widely considered as an indicator of the Oscars.

Adapted from American journalist Jessica Bruder's 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, the film stars the actress Frances McDormand as a 62-year old woman who travels in the vast lands of America in order to explore life as a modern-day nomad (流浪者).

With a short yet glittering resume (简历), Zhao, who was born in 1982 and sent to study overseas in 1998, has gained attention from the first film directed by her Songs My Brothers Taught Me in 2015 before accumulating more popularity for the award-winning The Rider in 2017. The latter helped her to seize the attention of McDormand, who then chose the rights of the Nomadland book.

After being released in international film events since autumn last year. Nomadland has been a favorite of many major festivals, including its victorious win of the Golden Lion Award as the best film at the 2020 Venice International Film Festival.

So far, the film has received more than 90 awards, making it a sought-after competitor in the upcoming Oscars.

Song Dandan, a famous actress and the stepmother of Zhao, sent her greetings on SinaWeibo saying every award won by Zhao has surpassed (超过) the family's expectations, bringing them huge joy. She added that she hopes Zhao's success will encourage more Chinese youth to pursue their dreams.

For some people, there's no better companion than mans best friend-a dog. This four-legged pet can bring comfort and joy and provide much- needed exercise for you when it needs walkies! This probably explains why dog ownership increased last year because people spent more time at home during he CovID-I9 lockdown.

However, as demand for a new dog increased, so did the price tag. Popular breeds, such as Cockapoos and Cocker Spaniels, saw even sharper price increases, and puppies have been selling for $3,000 or more.

Animal welfare charities fear that high prices could encourage puppy farming, smuggling (走私) or dog theft. An investigation found some breeders have been selling puppies and kittens on social media sites--something charities have called "extremely irresponsible".

But despite some new owners purchasing a dog legally, maybe from a rescue center or registered breeder, they've proved to be ill-prepared for life with a new pet, and the pet itself has found it hard to come to terms with life in a new home.

Looking to the future, there are concerns about the welfare of these much-loved pets. Lan Alkin manager of the Oxfordshire Animal Sanct uary in the UK, notes: "At the moment, the dogs are having a great time, but separation anxiety could still surface when people go back to work." And Cliare Calder from the UKs Dogs Trust rescue charity says, "The economic situation also means that some people may find they can't afford to look after a dog." The message is not to buy a dog in haste and to pick one that fits into our lifestyle.

It is a question people have been asking for ages. Is there a way to turn back the aging process?

For centuries, people have been looking for a "fountain of youth". The idea is that if you find a magical fountain, and drink from its waters, you will not age.

Researchers in New York did not find an actual fountain of youth, but they may have found a way to turn back the aging process. It appears the answer may be hidden right between your eyes, in an area called the hypothalamus (下丘脑). The hypothalamus is part of your brain. It controls important activities within the body.

Researchers at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that hypothalamus neural (神经的) stem cells also influence how fast aging takes place in the body.

What are stem cells(干细胞)? They are simple cells that can develop into specialized cells, like blood or skin cells. Stem cells can also repair damaged tissues and organs.

Dongsheng Cai is a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was the lead researcher in a study on aging in mice. He and his team reported their findings in the journal Nature, Cai explained when hypothalamus function is in decline, particularly the loss of hypothalamus stem cells, and this protection against the aging development is lost. it eventually leads to aging.

Using this information, the researchers began trying to activate, or energize, the hypothalamus laboratory mice. They did this by injecting the animals with stem cells, Later, the researchers examined tissues and tested for changes in behavior. They looked for changes in the strength and coordination (协调) of the animals muscles. They also studied the social behavior and cognitive ability of the mice. The researchers say the results show that the treatment slowed aging in the animals, Cai says injecting middle-aged mice with stem cells from younger mice helped the older animals live longer.

But these results were just from studying mice in a laboratory. If the mice can live longer, does that mean people could have longer lives? The next step is to see if the anti-aging effects also work in.

Have you ever found that you were able to sleep better with an air conditioner or fan running or perhaps with the sound of rain falling outside?  It acts as a way to mask distracting sounds. White noise is used as background noise that is created to drown out annoying noises.

One of the things that makes noise annoying is that the mind notices changes in the sounds of the environment. No doubt this ability helped keep our ancestors alive, by warning them of the faint sound made by a fierce animal. It keeps us awake or keeps us from being able to concentrate.

White noise changes the background sound. The overall level of sound in the environment is higher, which raises the volume boundary over which noises must pass in order to be noticed. . So there are no details for the mind to notice. That is why it has a comforting quality— it allows the mind to relax.

It is popular for helping people sleep, and it's also useful for helping students study, or for anyone who needs to concentrate. It calms and comforts babies, and is useful for travelers who find it hard to get to sleep in different environments with their unfamiliar noises. If traffic sounds, ticking clocks, and other people's conversations are bothering you, white noise can be a good solution.

Many office environments install white noise systems to help minimize distractions for office workers, and also to maintain speech privacy. A specialized use for white noise is in treating tinnitus (耳鸣).  When used as part of a well-designed treatment program, it can help in training the brain' s neurons (神经元) to ignore the sounds.

A. White noise has many benefits.

B. Besides, the sound quality has no special characteristics.

C. What types of sounds are exactly included in white noises?

D. If so, then you're already familiar with the concept of white noise.

E. To us, however, becoming sensitive to every tiny noise can be a problem.

F. White noise can often bring immediate relief from the annoying sounds of tinnitus.

G. Studies suggest that using sound masking in the workplace leads to higher productivity.

For weeks the students had been engaged in careful preparation for the Parents' Night program. Now everything was 1. The walls were filled with displays, the students with 2 and the tables with good things to eat.

The host was well under way. Then Jimmie Davis 3 to give his speech. This was the 4 he had looked forward to for many weeks. As he was on the stage, he caught a glimpse of his mother's beaming face and his father's 5 appearance. He started with a great burst of enthusiasm. He was 6 that his listeners were thinking highly of him by their careful attention. Then 7 happened. The world seemed to swim before him. He slowed down and stopped. His face flushed (变红), his8 sought each other crazily and in desperation he looked 9 towards his teacher, Mr. Smith.

And ever prepared, having heard the boyish masterpiece 10 again and again applied the missing words and the boy 11. But somehow it was different now. Jimmie 12 again-and the teacher reminded him again. For the 13 two minutes, the speech seemed more the teacher's than the boy's.

But Jimmie finished it. There was a heavy 14 in the heart of the boy, knowing that he had failed. Embarrassment was clearly 15 on the face of the boys father and mother. The audience 16 in a perfunctory (例行公事的) way, sorry for and pitying the boy who they thought had 17.

But the teacher was on his feet, saying: "I'm 18 to see a boy making a glorious victory out of what might have been a miserable failure. And I'm confident that you will never see a 19 demonstration of the spirit of playing the under difficulties!"

The crowd exploded into thunderous now. The old 20 of assurance (确信) was back on the face of the boy's father.

A gap year which means taking a year off before college, is not a new concept, but there's now a focus on  (make) the most of this break from the academic life. Long gone (be) the days of just hanging out on a beach or backpacking round the world. While that is still a choice, a gap year is now more about gaining skills that will help you in  (late) life.

Doing something productive is exactly students are being encouraged to do because something like work experience or charity work helps ( they ) to acquire skills to use when competing a place at university. It looks good on their CV and eventually makes them more employable. Actually, the experience of the gap year (become) much more practical recently, partly to do with university participation increasing, but also because of the demands on developing skills, especially employability skills.

While the  (benefit) of taking a gap year are clear to see, some students worry they can't afford it. some experts argue that it needn't “burn a hole in your pocket”, you don't need to travel far and you can even earn money by doing (pay) work.

1）表达你得知此事的喜悦心情;

2）推荐一个你喜欢的栏目(column)，并说明理由。

注意：1）词数80左右;

2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

When Ben delivered milk to my cousin's home that morning, he wasn't his usual sunny self.

It was late November, and as a newcomer to Lawndale, California. I was delighted that milkmen still brought bottles of milk to doorsteps. In the weeks that my husband, kids and I had been staying with my cousin while house- hunting, I had come to enjoy Ben's sunny personality and cheerful conversation.

Today, however, he was in a bad mood as he dropped off his milk from his truck. He placed the some embarrassment, he told me two customers had left town without paying their bills, and he would have to cover the losses. One of the debtors owed only S 10, but the other was $79 in arrears (逾期欠款) and had left no forwarding (发送) address. Ben was upset for allowing this bill to grow so large

"She was a pretty woman," he said, with six children and another on the way. She was always saying, 'I' m going to pay you soon, when my husband gets a second job. ' I believed her. What a fool I was! I thought I was doing a good thing, but I've learned my lesson. I've been cheated All I could say was, I'm so sorry

The next time I saw him, his anger seemed worse. I repeated how sorry I was about his loss of income. But when Ben left, I found myself caught up in his problem and longed to help. I worried that his might turn a cheerful person into a bitter one. I thought how to help him. Then, remembering that Christmas was coming. I thought of what my grandmother used to say: "When someone has taken something from you, give it to them, and then you can never be robbed.

The next time Ben delivered milk, I told him I had a way to make him feel better about the $79.

"Nothing will do that, "he said, but tell me anyway."

"Forget about it, Give the woman the milk as a Christmas present."

注意:

1）所续写短文的词数应为150词左右;

2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;

3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好;

1）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语

Paragraph 1:

"Are you kidding?" he replied.

Paragraph 2:

Two months later, while delivering milk, Ben saw a woman running toward him, waving money.