黑龙江省哈尔滨市2023-2024学年高二上学期期末考试英语

World's Greatest Places

Want to see the world? Each year, TIME magazine makes a list of the World's Greatest Places. TIME for Kids picks its favorites. Some places are a window on the past. Others look out on the future. Together, they represent the range of beauty and culture on our planet, from wildlife and other natural wonders to incredible human-made structures. Get ready for an adventure!

I sland Living

Dominica is called the Caribbean's nature island for its waterfalls, hot springs, and volcanoes. Visitors can hike trails and kayak along the coastline. And the island is eco-friendly. There's a new resort that's fully powered by sun and wind.

Family Fun

Phuket, Thailand, is known for its beaches. But there's a new theme park called Carnival Magic, which re-creates traditional festivals. Look at the fireworks! At the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, visitors can feed the animals. Local shops offer ice cream made with coconut milk.

City Central

In 2022, Vienna was named the world's most livable city. Austria's capital has more than a thousand miles of bike paths, and green spaces cover half of its area. There's plenty to do indoors, too. The Belvedere Museum just celebrated its 300th birthday.

Rain On

This is the new visitor center at El Yunque, a rainforest in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest Service, and is famous for its biodiversity. Puerto Rico is home to more than 240 plant species and 18 native bird species. You can spot many of them in the park.

The growing ice cream franchise(特许经营权) is the brainchild of Tom Landis, a restauranteur(餐馆老板), who wanted to create a safe space for people with special needs to work in the food industry, plus the flavors are great!

At the Dallas-based restaurant, employees serve large scoops of ice cream handed over with love. Tom Landis has hired people with special needs for many years. But he couldn't always provide a job for everyone who came to his fast-paced sandwich shops and pizza joints looking for work. Determined to create a business where friendliness mattered and kitchens were safe, he landed on ice cream.

In 2015, he opened the first ice cream shop; there are now seven franchises in cities including Asheville, El Paso, Indianapolis and Denver. Each shop creates 15 jobs in a safe environment for people with special needs. He said two more franchises were opening soon. "Our relentless mission is to employ all," he said while interviewed by the local media.

Employees are behind some of the best ideas at the ice cream shops, which boast(有) fun flavors like top-selling Dr Pepper Chocolate Chip, and other favorites like Cold Brew &Cookies and Strawberry Milkshake. In-store sampling events are leading to deal with some grocery stores in the coming months.

When Landis talked about the varieties of ice cream in his shops, he said, "It just works. We sell out every time." In the sunny and brightly colored shops, employees spread kindness and happiness to their customers as they dish out extra ice cream and free sprinkles.

"That's what ice cream is," said Landis with joy. His employees are heroes. "They lead me," he added.

Most people hate mosquitoes — but scientists are about to build a "mosquito factory" to release modified (改良的) mosquitoes.

The modified mosquitoes carry a bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis (沃尔巴克氏菌), which can be naturally found in most insect species. However, it's rarely discovered in mosquitoes. "We actually grow these mosquitoes that contain the bacterium," Scott O'Neill, an Australian scientist involved in the project, told CBC News. When the modified mosquitoes are released, they slowly spread the bacterium to the population.

Several studies have demonstrated the insects' success. For example, a controlled experiment in Indonesia showed that the modified insect helped reduce the cases of the disease dengue (登革热) by 77 percent, according to a study paper published in 2021.

The World Mosquito Program has announced that it will release modified mosquitoes in many of Brazil's urban areas over the next 10 years. The aim is to protect up to 70 million people from diseases such as dengue, an infectious disease mainly spread by mosquitoes.

Brazil has one of the highest rates of dengue infection in the world, according to the Nature website. "More than 1,000 people died of dengue in 2022 because of the spread of mosquitoes. It's going everywhere," Luciano Moreira, a scientist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told CBC News.

Another way to prevent mosquitoes from spreading diseases is by producing genetically modified mosquitoes (GM). In 2022 the US Environmental Protection Agency approved the release of 2.4 billion GM mosquitoes in California and Florida.

According to the agency, GM mosquitoes carry two types of genes: a self-limiting gene that prevents female offspring (后代) from surviving to adulthood; and a marker gene that allows researchers to identify GM ones in the wild. After being released, GM mosquitoes lay eggs, so the genes are passed on to offspring. In this way, the number of female mosquitoes is reduced, therefore reducing the chance of spreading disease.

Imagine reading a story titled "Pursuing Success." That would be an inspiring story, wouldn't it? Maybe—but maybe not. It might well be the story of someone whose never-ending chase for more and more success leaves them unsatisfied and incapable of happiness.

Though it isn't a conventional medical addiction, for many people success has addictive properties. Obviously, success goes with praise. To a certain extent, praise stimulates the neurotransmitter dopamine (神经递质多巴胺), which contributes to all addictive behaviors.

The desire for success may be born to human nature, but specialness doesn't come cheap. Success is tough work, and it requires bearing the cost of losing. In the 1980s, the physician Robert Goldman famously found that more than half of ambitious athletes would be willing to take a drug that would kill them in five years in exchange for winning every competition they entered.

Unfortunately, success is endless. The goal can't be satisfied; most people never feel "successful" enough. The high only lasts a day or two, and then it's on to the next goal. Psychologists call this the hedonic treadmill (快乐跑步机现象), in which satisfaction wears off almost immediately and we must run on to the next reward to avoid the feeling of falling behind.

People should get off the treadmill. But quitting isn't easy for addicts. For people hooked on substances, withdrawal can be a painful experience, both physically and psychologically, research finds that depression and anxiety are common among outstanding athletes after their careers end. Olympic athletes, in particular, suffer from the" post-Olympic blues."

Just like wine, success in and of itself is not a bad thing. Both can bring fun and sweetness to life. But both become bossy when they are a substitute for — instead of a complement (补充物)to — the relationships and love that should be at the center of our lives.

The History of the Automobile

The automobile, more commonly known as the car, certainly counts as one of the greatest inventions in human history. 

As to who invented the automobile, the answer is not quite so clear-cut. While some give credit to Karl Benz, who patented the first gas-powered vehicle in 1886, others give the praise to Gottlieb Daimelr. Incidentally, the two inventors' companies merge (合 并) in 1926 to form the famous Mercedes-Benz.

It was Henry Ford who designed a system of mass production that allowed him to produce cars far more cheaply, which in turn meant he could sell them at lower prices. By 1927, 15 million of Ford's famous all-black Model Ts had been produced. Mass car ownership had become a reality.

Inventors were working on electric vehicles around the same time that gas-powered ones were being developed. The first electric car was designed in 1884 by Thomas Parker, the same man who electrified the London Underground. By 1900, electric vehicles were giving gas cars a run for their money. They were quiet, did not give off emissions, and were easier to drive, especially for women.They were difficult to charge when most people's homes didn't have electricity. They were also rather expensive. In the end, Henry Ford's cheap Model T put an end to interest in electric cars which didn't become popular until the gas shortages and environmental concerns of the late 20th century.

Now, early in the 21st century, we find ourselves on the brink of yet another age in automobile history. Electric cars are set to make the gas-guzzler (油 老 虎) out of date.Benz, Daimler and Parker would surely be amazed by how far their dreams have come.

A. But why were early electric cars not popular?

B. However, they weren't without shortcomings.

C. They were also popular in European countries.

D. It allows people to travel great distances quickly, safely and cheaply.

E. And self-driving cars may soon make human drivers a thing of the past.

F. At first, European models were far too expensive for most people to buy.

G. Many people think of electric vehicles as a new invention, but actually that's not the case.

On a common morning just inside the entryway to a subway station, a young man took his violin out of its case. He seemed quite common in 1 . Then the man plucked (拨) the strings for minutes to tune his 2 . After that, he reached into his pocket and 3 a few dollars, which he threw into the violin case, hoping that the passers-by would 4 . Then he began to play, and thousands of people were hurrying to work, school, or wherever they were 5 as the morning rush was 6 . Though the incredible sound of this man's violin filled the subway station, it was apparently 7 by all.

If he were any other street 8 , perhaps it would have been 9 that he earned little attention of people. 10 , he is Joshua Bell, one of the world's most renowned 11 , and he was playing one of the most classical masterpieces on his $3,000,000 violin. Actually, almost nobody noticed his playing. Why? One reason is that he didn't look like a special man; the other is that everyone was too busy to 12 Joshua Bell's excellent music.

"I'm busy!" is an everyday 13 from people like those who walked past Joshua Bell's music without 14 a moment. All of this got me thinking: sometimes we should say no to useless busyness and allow for some 15 presence so as to perceive the beauty around us.

5G is developing, but most of us aren't really sure what it is or the reason  we need it. A big part of the reason is that 5G means more than one thing. If you ask different people, you (provide) with different answers.

Experts believe that 4G is on  way out. In 2020, the U.K. is expected to use 5G. At present, it is unknown exactly what influence 5G will have on people's life but it is widely thought that 5G will  (definite) be faster than any generation of networks we have used previously.

Work will likely become much easier as 5G will allow quicker downloads and a better ability to work online even if there is no wi-fi connection. With the  (develop) of 5G, driverless cars will be able to communicate  other vehicles, which can reduce road accidents by about 10%, One of the most  (impress) things will be that people can see which seats on a train are accessible to  (they) when it arrives at the station.  (get) around the world will also be more convenient.

A number of  (company) are now working on bringing 5G to the market. It remains to be seen how much of the country 5G will cover and whether everyone will be able to benefit from it.

要点包括：1. 她身上让你欣赏的品质；2. 她带给你的启示。

注意：1. 词数80左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Mary,

……

Yours,

Li Hua

A light rain was falling as my sister Jill and I ran out of the shop，eager to get home and play with the presents that our parents had prepared for us and our baby sister, Sharon.Across the street from the shop was a gas station where the Greyhound bus stopped，which was closed for New Year，but I saw a family standing outside the locked door，gathering closely together under the narrow overhang in an attempt to keep dry.I wondered briefly why they were there but then forgot about them as I raced to keep up with Jill.

Once we got home，there was barely time to enjoy our presents.We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual family dinner.As we drove down the highway through town，I noticed that the family was still there，standing outside the closed gas station.

My father was driving very slowly down the highway.The closer we got to the turnoff(岔道) for my grandparents' house，the slower the car went.Suddenly，my father made a Uturn in the middle of the road and said that he couldn't stand it."What？" asked my mother."It's those people back there at the station，standing in the rain.They've got children.It's New Year.I can't stand it."

When my father pulled into the service station，I saw that there were five of them: the parents and three children—two girls and a small boy，who were getting wet standing there. My father rolled down his window."Happy New Year，" he said.

"Thanks. You, too，" the man replied. He was very tall and had to bend slightly to look into the car. Jill, Sharon, and I looked at the children，and they looked back at us.

"You waiting on the bus？" my father asked. The man said that they were. They were going to Birmingham, where he had a brother and chances of a job. Knowing the bus wouldn't come along for several hours, my father invited them to our home to shelter from the rain.

Paragraph 1：

The man thought about it for a moment ， but then refused.

Paragraph 2：

When we got out of the car at our house ， the three children ran through the front door happily.