湖南岳阳市2026届高三年级教学质量监测（一）英语试题

Swim with basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides

To swim with basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides, head to the Isle of Coll. Basking Shark Scotland offers safe tours led by marine experts. You'll wear a wetsuit and swim to see sharks, dolphins and seals. August to September is the best time, and the 3-day tour costs £600 per person.

Stay in treehouses in Stirlingshire

In Stirlingshire, the Lanrick and Leckie Treehouses are perfect for eco-lovers. Made from local wood with reused furniture and air heating, they are more environmentally friendly than common hotels. Only four miles from Loch Lomond National Park, they let you easily join hiking or bird watching. The price starts at £245 a night per person, with a minimum two-night stay.

E-bike in the Yorkshire Moors

The North York Moors National Park now has e-bike charging stations at two centers, making the 171-mile cycleway more accessible. The route passes quiet roads, with many bike hire and repair spots along the way. Forest Holidays provides cycle breaks from its two local villages.

Walk the South West Coast Path

The 630-mile South West Coast Path, part of the world's longest coastal trail, combines wonderful walks with artistic charm. It has enjoyed great popularity since the film The Salt Path, based on Raynor Winn's hiking story was released in September. Macs Adventure offers a 7-night self-guided walk for £940 per person.

Planning your next green getaway? Place your booking on our website and you can enjoy a 20% discount on all the above eco-friendly adventures. For more detailed information about the discount terms and booking procedures, please click the link below.

In May 2024, with local government support, Zhao and her team launched Douyin and Kuaishou accounts, aiming to explore new paths for village development through these platforms. They created a video series "100 Simple Acts for the Villagers," featuring help for left-behind elderly such as teaching them to use smartphones. These videos not only enriched the elderly's lives but also boosted the village's popularity, drawing investment to this area.

The social media drive brought tangible benefits to the village. Soon after the accounts were established, a forest farm was built, offering family-friendly outdoor activities and creating numerous local jobs. More importantly, the platforms became an effective channel for selling the village's farm products. With a steady stream of orders coming in, the village's agricultural product sales businessburgeoned, bringing more income to local households. Last September, Zhao's videos showing local grapes' growth and their sweet taste drew wholesalers' attention, helping sell 35,000 kilograms successfully.

Zhao also provided assistance to nearby villages in need. When a young woman from a neighboring village sought help with unsold apricots (杏). Zhao's team responded quickly, making and releasing a promotion video the same day. This helped the family sell all their extra apricots.

Reflecting on her work, Zhao noted, "Social media is a strong tool for rural development. Though I'm just an ordinary person, I want to do my best to help my hometown."

Coloring books for adults aren't a new phenomenon. Early "paint books" were marketed to grown-ups in the late 18th century, often framed as educational or moral tools. But adult coloring really caught on around 2015, when Johanna Basford's intricate (错综复杂的) drawings in her book "Secret Garden" became sensations. Recently, a "cozy coloring" aesthetic (美学的) style has dominated adult coloring charts — simple line art with large shapes meant for quick, relaxing fills. Of Amazon's best-sellers in October 2025, nearly half of the top adult coloring books emphasized the same "Bold & Easy" style — a pull toward accessibility over intricacy, intended to comfort tired minds.

For Girija Kaimal, professor of the Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University in Philadelphia, coloring's appeal runs deeper than relaxation. "I think of us as 21st century hunter-gatherers. Our bodies and minds are tens of thousands of years old. We worked with our hands; we used all our senses. Coloring takes us back there," she explained. As for why it feels rewarding, "By the end of it, you have something colorful, which signals health to us," she explained. "In nature, when you see color, it usually signifies abundance, a fertile landscape."

Kaimal said that this kind of activity "let people play again," giving them a safe way to create without fear of failure. And skill doesn't matter. "We are allowed to play as adults, however silly," Kaimal added.

The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that transportation accounted for roughly 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in America in 2022 alone. Of that, about 7% came from commercial aircraft. But what about so-called biomass-based (生物质) SAF? Some estimates suggest that SAF, largely referring to fuels derived (提取) from organic materials, could reduce emissions from flying by up to 80%, compared to conventional jet fuel.

In this new experiment, the team used a chemical process called HTL, which essentially copies the way the Earth naturally creates raw oil from organic matter over millions of years, except without all the waiting. HTL kind of acts like an advanced "pressure cooker" to fast-forward nature's timeline.

With plenty of raw oil extracted, the researchers then set out to transform it into jet fuel. The first step involved removing salt, ash, moisture, and other impurities. After that, they used a cleaning process to get rid of other undesirable elements such as nitrogen, and oxygen. What remained were the specific hydrocarbons (烃) required to make jet fuel.

The team took their food-waste derived jet fuels and tested it against current fuel standards. It passed the screening test and met industry requirements without needing to introduce any special additives, meaning the fuel would theoretically power a commercial airplane.

The findings are a first step to show plane fuel derived from food waste is at least possible. Actually making enough of it to supply an entire passenger jet, however, is another beast altogether. "Our research helps solve the science and engineering problems, and then the industry needs to step in," University of Illinois professor and corresponding author Yuanhui Zhang said.

When his plane landed in Beijing, the first thing that shocked Connor was the city's enormous size and the number of people. The city was a vibrant place, full of energy, bright lights, and constant change. He clearly remembers seeing entire streets being knocked down and completely rebuilt with new, modern buildings in just a few months. He quickly realized his old ideas about China were completely wrong.

However, Connor slowly started to adapt. He learned the language, made local friends, and began to understand the new culture. He discovered that people were very knowledgeable and often enjoyed discussing interesting topics. In America, he had been quiet, but living in China helped him become much more outgoing.

Today, 16 years later, China is, beyond doubt, Connor's home. Looking back, he smiles when he thinks about his old ideas. His life in China showed him how important it is to experience things for yourself. His journey taught him that our perspective on the world can change in wonderful ways when we open our minds. For Connor, China was not just a destination.

A. It became the place where he truly grew up.

B. It was nothing like his hometown in America.

C. Living in such a dynamic environment was challenging.

D. He imagined quiet streets and an old-fashioned way of life.

E. It was a lesson that would shape his outlook on life forever.

F. He also found that the experience changed his own personality.

G. However, what he saw next challenged his imagination even further.

Life is unpredictable. Thus the only thing I could control was my3 — seeing troubles as challenges, not defeats. Instead of self-criticizing, I could4 joyful moments. Those small, brief moments I once5 — a child's laughter in the park, sunlight streaming through leaves, a friend's casual kindness — suddenly felt worth cherishing. But how?

I had always enjoyed photography but had6 this habit for a long time in life's mess. I decided to pick it up,7 one special moment daily. By the end of the year, I'd have 365 good memories recorded. That was the8. As photos accumulated, I had proof of what I truly9.

The photos drew me from negativity. Problems were real but not10. I had been so fixed on things not working that I'd forgotten good things were11 around me. They were never rare, just unnoticed. Some days felt12, but I gradually noticed lighthearted moments. The more I looked for them, the more13 they seemed to become. All those photos I took encouraged focusing on the14 — the warmth of a friend's smile, the calm of a quiet evening, and the joy of casual picnics.

It worked. I made a photo book. It15 me of gratitude and that life moves at its own pace. The book is now a family tradition. The photos didn't fix everything, but they gave me light in the dark. And, one photo at a time, that made all the difference.

Golf: China's ancient game?

A mural painting of Yuan dynasty-era chuiwan(捶丸)(preserve) on the wall of a Water God Temple in Hungtung county, Shanxi province at present. The painting depicts a Mongolian official, some Han officials and assistants. The sticks and devices are fairly identical to of modern golf.

It is generally recognized that the Scots may well have made golf a game of 18 holes. But the jury's still out on who first came up with the idea of an open-air game players use a stick to hit a ball towards a target. The most fascinating—and in many ways convincing—evidence of an early version of golf(document) in history comes from China.

A game called chuiwan—chui meaning to hit and wan meaning ball—became popular in the Song dynasty. Players used ten clubs to hit wooden balls towards(bright) coloured flags. There was even an early equivalent of the R&A Rules of Golf: Classic of the Ball, published during the Yuan dynasty. It lays out the rules, and places great emphasis sportsmanship and correct behaviour—echoes of modern golf, where etiquette(礼仪) is such an important element of the game. There's also a(refer) in an ancient book to an official of the Southern Tang dynasty(tell) his daughter to"dig holes in the ground" so he could hit a ball into them using a special stick.

The debate over who got there first will go on, at least one thing is certain. Chuiwan, played by Chinese emperors 1,000 years ago, certainly qualifies as a royal and ancient game.

1. 活动方案；

2. 阐述理由。

注意：(1) 写作词数应为80左右；

(2) 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Dear editor,

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My next-door neighbor, Pat, hadn't said a friendly word since the day we moved in. Pat lived alone and worked from home, with visits from his teenage son and daughter. I could understand his need for privacy and my family had tried our best not to bother him. However, things got worse that summer morning.

At that time, homeowners in our neighbourhood were putting up fences to contain their pets and kids. We offered Pat the opportunity to share the cost of a fence between our yards. He first agreed, but later became unwilling. Finally, we just had the fence put up ourselves.

On that particular morning, I had been gardening out front when Pat threw a large doggy waste from his lawn onto ours. Frustrated, I walked right over and tried to explain, "Our dog is a Chihuahua! There is no way he did that."

But Pat wouldn't listen and claimed that our dog did it. "Keep your dog and your kids off my yard, and you get off my yard too," he shouted.

My frustration turned to anger. I had never been treated with such disrespect by someone, especially a neighbor. I stormed in my front door and called my husband, Kevin, at work. His advice: Stay away from Pat.

And so I did. Pat returned the favor. We tried to avoid any kind of unexpected run-in with each other. Weeks passed in such awkwardness until one morning, when I saw Pat tending vegetables in his yard. Suddenly, I felt a twinge of guilt. I was no more a model neighbor than Pat was! I'd been hurt by his words; maybe he'd been hurt by mine. I felt ready to do something. But how should I take a neighborly step forward? I turned to Kevin for advice, who assured me that an opportunity would present itself if my heart was truly willing.

Then one day, I noticed something moving in the backyard vegetable garden. It was an orange kitten (小猫). I had raised kittens for years and I loved doing it. Nothing melted my heart like a sweet, innocent kitten.

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。

Just then, a knock sounded at the front door.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The kitten became a frequent visitor ever since.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________