广东省湛江市湛江市八校联考2025-2026学年高三上学期8月月考英语试题

Tour Overview

Take a special adventure in Sri Lanka, exploring its rich biodiversity and conservation efforts. This tour offers a good view of iconic wild species with ocean exploration as well as amazing game drives and guided hikes.

Highlights

Yala National Park: Enjoy game drives in the morning and spot leopards, deer, and wild cows in the evening. Experience the thrill of witnessing these animals in their natural habitat.

Kanneliya Rainforest: Explore one of Southeast Asia's most diverse areas on a guided hike. Discover rare lorises (懒猴) and special birds.

Gal Oya National Park: Experience a boat on Gal Oya Lake and game drives to encounter elephants, crocodiles, and a variety of plant species.

Blue Whale Expedition: Join an expert marine biologist for a boat tour in search of the largest creature on the Earth, the blue whale. Admire the beauty of these gentle giants in their natural environment.

Rekawa Turtle Conservation Centre: Visit this well-known centre on the southern coastline, where you can gain insight into nesting turtles and conservation efforts.

Places to Live

Stay in a mix of 4-star hotels and tented camps, offering comfort in the natural surroundings.

Inclusions

Free bus and boat rides.

All hotel bills and meal expenses.

Expert guides and a marine biologist.

Entrance fees to national parks and conservation centres.

Exclusions

Travel insurance.

Personal expenses.

International flights.

Target Audience

Whether you are a first-time visitor or an experienced naturalist, this adventure allows you to observe a great many species on land, in the sky, and at sea.

Booking Information

To book this tour, please contact our travel agency by phone or via the address. Join us on this incredible journey! To know about the phone and address, click here.

I remembered standing in line at the Social Security Office with my mother. When we got to the front of the line, my mother looked at the form and started to ask the lady a question, "Excuse me, can I..." The lady cut her off and said, "Madam, take the form to the desk, fill it out, and come back. Next!" My mother and I walked to the desk, and she looked at the form. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and I asked, "Mom, what's wrong?" "Boy, I can't read or write," she answered. Then she hugged me and said, "You'll never know what it's like to be ignorant." At that time, as a child, I didn't know much about what she meant. All I know was I should do something to assist her.

Because my parents were illiterate (不识字的), they wanted to encourage my reading. They decided to buy me books with pretty pictures. When I was ten years old, I started to gather up a big collection of books. I was ready for the world with reading. However, because of a tight budget, there was little chance that I would go to college or get a scholarship. So I had to join the army. During my service, I would hear the army lawyers talk and noticed how someone could be found guilty or not guilty, with just a turn of a phrase. I started thinking, "When I get out of the army, I'm going to become a lawyer!"

I started attending night school. For seven years, I showed up at class whatever the situation. And two years after I retired from the army, I earned my bachelor's degree. Although I didn't become a lawyer, the journey did take me to a place where I could fight against ignorance in the classroom.

Street corners show this well. Busy crossroads have their own social patterns: People waiting for traffic lights chat, say goodbye, or gather around vendor stalls (摊位). Sociologist William H. Whyte observed in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces that even a single vendor can transform a corner into a mini-community, proving that small spaces can help build big relationships. These moments turn ordinary stops into opportunities for interaction.

Streets are the birthplace of relationships. Neighbors meet on connecting roads; coworkers bond over roadside drinks; strangers share short talks. These interactions build the urban social structure. As the lines between public and private spaces become less clear, streets become like extensions of home, where community takes shape naturally.

Urban experts emphasize the power of design. Jane Jacobs' "frequent streets" prioritize daily interactions, while Edward T. Hall's research shows seating arrangements affect social dynamics. A bench facing an open area or a sunny walkway encourages people to pause and interact. Thoughtful design — from shade structures to designs that are friendly to pedestrians (行人) — turns spaces into places for connection.

Despite their value, lively streets are rare due to challenges like noise, pollution, and safety worries. Planners must realize well-maintained streets should be places where people feel they belong, proving that life between buildings is the life of the city. So they should address these through comprehensive design: protecting spaces from bad elements, reducing traffic jams, and ensuring access for everyone. Taking care of them is also important, as well-designed spaces do well only when they are kept up.

The cover of Brain Medicine shows a human brain filled with colorful microplastic particles (微粒), next to a plastic spoon. This image highlights a key finding: Human brains may contain about "a spoonful" of microplastic material. Ultra-processed foods, which now make up over 50% of energy intake in the US, contain far more microplastics than whole foods. These tiny plastic particles, less than 5 millimeters in size, can get into human brains and increase significantly in large amounts.

Studies have shown a link between eating ultra-processed foods and negative mental health. People who eat such foods have a 22% higher risk of depression, a 48% higher risk of anxiety, and a 41% higher risk of poor sleep. The new assumption is that microplastics could be the missing link in this connection. For example, a type of processed chicken has 30 times more microplastics per gram than fresh chicken breasts. Recent findings in Nature Medicine also revealed high levels of microplastics in the human brain, and these levels were three to five times higher in people with serious mental decline. Ultra-processed foods and microplastics seem to damage human brains through similar biological processes, like causing deleterious reactions and stress inside human bodies.

To study this further, researchers suggest creating a Dietary Microplastic Index (DMI) with the aim of measuring microplastic exposure from food. Another paper shows that a modern technique might be able to remove microplastic particles from the blood, but more research is needed. In conclusion, while more studies are required, it is clear that reducing ultra-processed food consumption and finding ways to remove microplastics from our bodies are important. After all, as the saying goes, "You are what you eat."

Sometimes we may wonder if we were a machine, we'd never let things fall through the cracks, and we wouldn't forget things. It gets in the way of our productivity because it makes us blind to the roots of our actual problems.

So what is underneath our productivity problems? Our productivity depends on our feelings, not new tools. Understanding how our feelings affect us can open up freedom to make progress and finally improve our productivity. So how?

That means recognizing and working with our emotions. But usually no matter what the issue is, we easily ignore it and hope that it goes away rather than to admit something is wrong. What we forget is that our emotions have great impacts on our actions. The most productive people need to have regular practices to maintain that awareness.

Once we are aware of the problem, the next step is observing. Though difficult, observing without judgment counts most. For example, when our inbox (收件箱) is messy, we just see it with little judgment. Avoid feeling anxious, as it prevents us from addressing the root issue.

Finally, try to address our emotions. It is the most effective way to help us be productive daily. A one-touch email strategy or checking the email twice a day may do a bit, but none of these really solve the problem completely. Actually we are able to use our own desire that we can't let people down to help us get through our inbox.

A. ignore our emotions.

B. Awareness is the first step.

C. Identify what causes the mess.

D. We are not machines but emotional beings.

E. But the idea of being a machine is actually a trap.

F. One day, we'll find that we've finished handling all in it.

G. Sometimes, working like a machine is effective and useful.

Screaming, Heidi stood up and displayed a2 on the back of her leg. Blood flew out of it. We were off to the nearest3 straight away. Dr Anderson was on a(n)4 visit that day. Heidi felt extremely tense. Calm and friendly, he told Heidi a joke to put her5 and took out a needle. Heidi seemed to6 notice when he gave her a7.

After Dr Anderson bandaged (用绷带包扎) Heidi's leg, he8 a clean rubber glove like a balloon, tied it, and used a marker to draw a chicken face on it. Heidi laughed and played with the9 for a few days.

Fast forward twenty years. Our family10 our memories during a dinner, and we talked about the bottle accident. I spoke about the whole11: a broken bottle, Heidi's screaming, blood, injection, etc. Heidi said to me, looking12, "Oh no, Mom, that's not what happened." And she told us her memory — It was much more13. She told us how funny Dr Anderson was and how attractive that chicken-head glove was. She just14 back fondly on that day. She15 the unpleasant elements and only remembered the good parts. Then I realized that there could be something good in pain. And I'd like to express my heartfelt thanks to Dr Anderson who made children keep the beauty in mind.

On Saturday, Beijing hosted unique half marathon where 21 humanoid (像人的) robots competed alongside 12,000 human runners. This was the first event of its kind, and despite many challenges, six robots (successful) finished the 21-kilometer race.

The robots varied size, from the 180 cm "Tiangong Ultra" to the 75 cm "Little Giant". To qualify (they), they had to run on two feet like humans. Each robot started separately with support teams following closely, carrying spare parts and even backup robots. Some robots (guide) by leashes (绳索), while others were led or followed by jogging technicians.

The course included 14 turns, hills, and uneven surfaces like railroad tracks. Many robots faced difficulties — low batteries caused some to fall, while overheating forced technicians (cool) down the robots with water. Remarkably, "Little Giant" even began smoking at one point. The winner, "Tiangong Ultra", was much slower than human runners but achieved the main goal — completion, finished in 2 hours 40 minutes. Two versions of robot "N2" took second and third places, with one crossing the finish line after (have) its taped-on head reattached.

Though only six robots finished, (conduct) under strict conditions, the event provided (value) data to improve future humanoid robots. The race proved that with persistence and technological advances, robots could meet extraordinary challenges.

（1）表示支持；

（2）你的计划。

注意：

（1）写作词数应为80个左右；

（2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Dear Jane,

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Yours,

Li Hua

The small bismuth crystal (铋晶体), which Mr White, our chemistry teacher as well as our head teacher, gave me, has been treasured to this day. It reminded me that he taught us the periodic table (元素周期表) in middle school. Actually, that is a little old, but it is what it is.

From the beginning, I fell in love with the element "Bi". If you've never seen bismuth, I strongly suggest looking it up — it comes in absolutely beautiful colors and grows in these interesting square shapes that may be changed during the growing process with music. It was super cool, and I just immediately loved it.

Bismuth is not exactly as common as some other elements, so it wasn't an element we talked about much in class. However, whenever the opportunity arrived, I would speak of it and express how much I liked it. It sometimes became a joke. On the rare occasions, when I mentioned it, people would stare at me and laugh loudly.

One day, we were having a computer class as usual, and I was not in a good mood. Mr White had a rule that if we finished our computer activities early, we had to work on a math program that all the eighth graders had to do. The program had these annoying cartoon characters that would cheer when we got answers right. However, all I wanted to do was draw bismuth crystals. I knocked my pencil against the desk, watching the clock tick slowly. The classroom was hot. Outside, rain started pattering against the windows, matching my bad mood. I remembered sitting there and just thinking, "Mr White is so unfair. What's the point in making us do the same work?" While I was working on the odd math program impatiently, Mr White took a look at me, saying nothing.

注意：

（1）续写词数应为150个左右；

（2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

After class, Mr White called me over to his office.

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With the small bismuth crystal, I left his office, feeling a mix of excitement and regret.

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