广东省深圳市2023-2024学年高二上学期期末英语试卷

Animals were the real pioneers of space flight. Let us learn about some animals that have been to space.

A. Fruit flies

On February 20, 1947, the United States sent some fruit flies into space to study the impact that cosmic radiation (宇宙辐射) might potentially have on astronauts in the future. They chose flies because they are genetically similar to humans.

When they returned to Earth, the scientists found the flies alive, with no evidence of the effects of radiation.

B. Mice

Mice have long been used to find out more about how space travel will affect the human body. In fact, NASA has recently published a study of mice housed at the International Space Station. It shows that mice quickly adapt to microgravity (微重力) conditions.

The very first mouse went into space in 1950, reaching an altitude of 137km. However, unlike the fruit flies, the mouse died when the rocket broke into parts due to a parachute (降落伞) failure.

C Dogs

Laika, a Russian homeless dog, went to space on November 3, 1957. She was picked up on the streets and was thought suitable because she had a gentle temperament (性情) and behaved well. The scientists also believed a homeless dog would be better at dealing with difficult conditions like microgravity than a pet dog.

Laika is famous for being the first animal to orbit (环绕……运行) the Earth. However, she never returned.

D. Spiders

In 1973 two garden spiders called Anita and Arabella were used in an experiment to see if they could still build webs in space.

Both spiders managed to build webs, even though the webs were slightly finer than on Earth. The study showed a great deal about the effects of microgravity on motor response (运动反应).

Michael and his wife, new residents in a San Francisco apartment, learned about their neighbor Jeff Dunan's volunteer work for Bangladesh Relief, an organization that provides food, clothing and essential supplies for disadvantaged people in northern Bangladesh. Inspired, Michael donated $150 to Dunan's GoFundMe campaign. However, a credit card notification alerted him to an unintended $15,041 charge.

When he saw the five-figure number, he was confused. Soon, it all made sense. Michael's credit card number started with four and one. Clearly, he accidentally began typing his credit card information while his cursor (光标) was still in the donation box.

Michael planned to call Dunan to explain, but before he had the chance to do that, he started receiving Facebook messages from Shohag Chandra, the charity's Bangladesh-based program manager, thanking him for his generous donation. After he looked through the photos of people holding thank-you signs that read his name, Michael's heart sank. He felt terrible that he had to withdraw his handsome donation. Once his original contribution was refunded, he decided to donate $1,500.

Although Michael had told his family and friends about the tale, he decided to share it publicly on social media, after Dunan told him the organization was desperately in need of funds. "The least I could do was take the time to post this story online and see if I could inspire other people to donate to the cause," Michael said.

Little did he know, though, that the story would be seen far and wide, ending up raising more than $120,000 for Bangladesh Relief in the span of only a few weeks—about eight times Michael's mistaken donation. According to Dunan, more than 3,700 people have contributed because of Michael's post. Michael has been stunned (震惊) by the ongoing outpouring of support. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this reaction," he said. "People can be amazing when they come together for something like this."

This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's first manned space mission, with Yang Liwei becoming the first Chinese astronaut to go to space. Since then, another 19 astronauts have reached for the stars. The selection of the fourth generation of astronauts began in 2022 and is now in full swing. Experts revealed how tough the training is before astronauts can fly to space.

The human body is not designed for space life. Astronauts are faced with multiple challenges on a space mission. The changes in gravity can have an impact on their bodies. The sensation of confinement (封闭) living in a small spacecraft for months can damage their mental health. Emergencies during missions challenge their knowledge and ability to solve problems under huge pressure. So it's no wonder that astronauts have to meet extremely high standards and go through a tough training program.

To make sure that Chinese astronauts complete their missions and return to Earth safely, "Eight types, including over 200 subjects of training, were set," Huang Weifen, chief designer of the astronaut system for China's manned space project, told CCTV News. Apart from physical fitness training, it also includes basic scientific theories, psychological health, and mock (模拟) missions.

Among the training subjects, the most tiring one is underwater training. This training is designed for astronauts to adapt to the microgravity environment in space. According to Huang, astronauts stay underwater in suits weighing over 100 kilograms for six hours at a time. Water resistance (阻力) and the heavy suit make every move exhausting. "Nie Haisheng, one of the astronauts, once reported a two-kilogram loss in weight after one underwater training exercise," said Huang. Each astronaut receives training for at least three and a half years before having the chance to go to space.

Developed by US company OpenAI, ChatGPT has got viral, winning 100 million internet users since it came out in November 2022. People can ask the robot to write stories and emails, create instructions for cooking a certain food, translate languages, and answer all kinds of questions. In its own words, it is "a language model trained in a large amount of internet text to help users get human-like text. "

Compared with Siri or other chatbots, ChatGPT uses a much bigger information center for training. It also uses stronger software and hardware to learn things by itself. For example, if it provides a wrong answer to your question, you can tell it the right one and it will correct itself. "It's a totally different chatbot," computer scientist Liu Xiaoguang from Nankai University said. "The knowledge level ChatGPT shows is the same as a university student. That's why it shocked the world."

But one big problem with ChatGPT is that it makes mistakes or even gives false information. When Rezza, a 28-year-old from Indonesia, used the robot to write an passage, it "gave out many examples which other writers actually hadn't mentioned at all", he told a local newspaper. Since the robot is trained using words from the internet, it can also pick up biases(偏见) about certain groups. These are all things that need to be dealt with.

Characteristics of an excellent scientist

The Free Dictionary defines(定义) a scientist as a person having professional knowledge on one or more sciences, especially natural science or physical science. Let's look at some characteristics of an excellent scientist.

Curiosity.

Scientists such as Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse discovered things mainly because they wanted to know how things worked. If a scientist doesn't have the drive to ask questions or even wonder, then he/ she never gets to the first stage of the scientific process.

Patience.

There are very few jobs that take longer than this one. Even if you think you have received some education on science, you still have a lot of scientific research to do. If you're an instant-gratification (及时满足的) type of person, this may not be the best choice for you.

Ethical (道德的)qualities.

In order to truly discover and use knowledge for the greater good, a scientist must have a desire to improve people's life as well as the environment, since they are linked and they can affect each other in the long run. A scientist must report findings honestly regardless of personal or outside commercial (商业的) interests. Sticking to an old belief contradicted(反驳)by evidence is dishonest.

Working habits.

An excellent scientist even takes notes of the smallest observation, keeping it in mind and recording it.  He/ She also needs to communicate thoughts on paper and verbally. Networking skills connect him/ her with colleagues working on similar projects where he/ she may discover something new.

A. Becoming a scientist takes a long time.

B. An excellent scientist must be very curious about things.

C. It also defines a scientist as someone who uses scientific methods.

D. However, that belief shouldn't be changed without powerful evidence.

E. He/ She can work well alone or in groups, depending on what's needed.

F. To make discoveries in human knowledge, you have to think differently.

G. One of the main places that many scientists work in is the research laboratory.

Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? My friend Stella is such an example. Every time we went to a restaurant she would not take a bite until all the dishes we 1 were on the table. Then she would spend five minutes in 2 the dishes in a seemingly random but in fact 3 order. Then the most important part: taking pictures. After that, she would choose one of the 4 and click in the filter app. The food eventually looked 10 times more delicious than it really was, but we had no 5 to really enjoy it—it all went cold, actually Stella's real life is much less elegant. For example, she hates to wash the dishes, so she leaves them in the sink for days.

Many people care too much about others' opinions and try too hard to 6 others. They find it hard to be 7 and to accept themselves, and thus they are afraid to show their 8 life on social media. What they are trying to prove is 9 what they lack in reality. But this will not bring any 10 to reality, as they still 11 the same old pattern of life.

If they really want an elegant life, they should put more 12  into achieving it 13  fabricating it. Being more confident, 14  themselves and trying their best to be better are much more meaningful than 15  their life on social media.

Adam Braun established the organization Pencils of Promise in 2008. Its goal is  (make) sure all children have a chance for education. In the past few years, it  (help) more than 22,000 children in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

It started when Adam Braun was a college student. He was visiting India when a boy stopped (he) on the street and asked for money. Mr Braun asked the boy he would want, if he could have anything in the world. "I thought the answer was going to be a house, a car or a boat. His answer was 'a pencil', shocked me. So I gave him my pencil and he just lit up with joy. I realized he had never been to school before and that was the (real) for 57 million children around the world, " Braun said.

Adam Braun started working in finance after he graduated  college. But he never forgot the boy and  problem he represented. So he decided to devote himself to (create) that world. Braun says his organization works  (close) with the local education organizations, which organize the main program of studies.

An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.

When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, "only a miracle(奇迹)can save him now." The little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.

She hurried to a drugstore (药店) with the money in her hand. At that moment, only a salesman and a well-dressed man were in the drugstore. The girl went to the salesman directly. "What do you want?" asked the salesman. "It's for my little brother," the girl answered. "He's really sick and I want to buy a miracle." "Pardon?" said the salesman.

"My brother Andrew has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?" "We don't sell a miracle here, child. I'm sorry," the salesman said with a smile.

"Please! If it isn't enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs." said the little girl, almost crying with anxiety.

注意：1)所续写短文的词数应为150左右;2) 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头部分已为你写好。

Paragraph 1: The well-dressed man heard it.

Paragraph 2: Having known about what happened from the girl, the well-dressed man took up the girl's hand.