湖南邵阳市第二中学等校2025-2026学年5月高一期中检测卷英语试题

Puebla – Mexico

Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May) is one of Mexico's most well-known festivals. Honouring the Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, the festival is best celebrated in the very city where victory was achieved. Located just two hours from Mexico City, Puebla's celebrations feature real battle performances inside the UNESCO World Heritage City.

Sydney – Australia

Sydney is another excellent city to visit in May. Due to the pleasant weather, beach days, swimming and surfing are still possible, while it is also much more comfortable walking around the city during the middle of the day due to the milder temperatures. As the nights get darker earlier, the famous Vivid Sydney light show lights up the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, starting on 22nd May and running through until 13th June 2026.

Cusco – Peru

May marks the beginning of the dry season of Cusco, with long, sunny days and mild temperatures, making it perfect for Andean hiking. In Cusco, you can take on the Inca Trail, a four-day hike which ends at the famous Machu Picchu, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Antalya – Turkey

Located on Turkey's famous Turquoise Coast, Antalya is an excellent place to visit in May. While sea temperatures are cooler than in the summer months, May is still a great time to enjoy a beach holiday in Turkey. Furthermore, it is also a good time to explore nearby historic sites including Aspendos or the Old Town of Kaleiçi without the intense summer heat putting you off doing so.

In an important football game, the Baltimore Ravens were losing to the Buffalo Bills 27-25 with one and a half minutes left. The Ravens needed two more points to tie the game. Mark Andrews, a player from the Ravens, caught the football pass but dropped it, making the Ravens lose and end their season.

However, even though they won, some Bills fans felt sorry for Andrews. Actually, Andrews has type 1 diabetes (糖尿病) and supports a charity called Breakthrough T1D, which helps with diabetes research. Knowing this, Ryan Patota, a lifelong Bills fan, decided to raise money for this charity. He and a classmate, Nicholas Howard, started a charity event on their Instagram page for Bills fans. Their effort has raised more than $146,000 from over 4,000 donations. The original goal was to raise $5,000. Initially, donations were mostly from Bills fans, but as word spread, fans of the Ravens and other NFL teams joined in.

"It's impossible to fully express how I feel," Andrews said on social media a few days after the game. "I'm absolutely heartbroken by what happened on Sunday. I'm sorry for my teammates, my coaches and Ravens fans." He added, "Despite the disappointing result, I've seen heartfelt love and encouragement, including from those who have generously donated to Breakthrough T1D."

When asked for the reason for their deed, Howard says: "I've got tremendous respect for Mark Andrews, even though he was playing against us." Patota adds, "You want your team to win. But we want to bring both bases together and say, ‘Hey, this is more than a game.'"

A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley Haas and Cornell University, published in the journal Science, reveals that AI is rapidly changing scientific research. Even as AI tools help researchers write more papers faster, many of these studies are scientifically insignificant. The resulting flood of well-written but potentially superficial work is making it harder for reviewers, funders, and policymakers to separate worthy papers from unimportant and potentially misleading work.

The study, co-authored by Toby Stuart from UC Berkeley Haas and four other researchers from Cornell University, examined more than 2 million papers uploaded between January 2018 and June 2024. These papers were from three major research preprint (预印) websites, covering fields such as mathematics, physics, biology, social sciences, and humanities. Researchers use the three sites — arXiv, bioRxiv, and SSRN — to post scientific papers that have not yet received peer review.

Using advanced detection algorithms (算法), the team identified which scientists were likely using AI to write papers, and compared how many papers they produced before and after adopting AI. They also employed a formula (公式) to carefully measure the complexity of the writing. And finally, they determined which papers were later published in scientific journals.

"We found an opposite relationship between writing complexity and quality," Stuart said. "If you're human, the more complicated the writing is, the better the paper is. But if you're a robot, the more complicated the writing is, the less good the paper is."

Up to 30 percent of life on Earth never sees sunlight. Instead, these creatures live on hydrogen produced by the chemical reaction between water and rocks. Earthquakes break rocks into pieces, create new reaction surfaces and change the paths of water, thus increasing the production of hydrogen. For a study in PNAS Nexus, researchers tracked the effects of earthquakes on microbes at the bottom of a 100-meter-deep hole in Yellowstone National Park.

The scientists travelled 10 hours to and from the research site seven times over seven months. There they collected samples of rocks, gases and microbes, overcoming equipment problems, transportation difficulties, and more along the way. The group was lucky enough to be taking measurements at just the right time — and in the ideal location — to perfectly catch the rise and fall of a rare "swarm (泛滥)" of 2,182 earthquakes. Yellowstone has a lot of earthquakes, but quake swarms this powerful tend to occur every five to 10 years, says Montana State University geomicrobiologist Eric Boyd, the study's lead author.

During the quake swarm, the amount of microbial life present increased by 6.5 times before returning to normal after the quakes. Hydrogen levels also increased, and the types of microbes observed changed. "All the pieces fit together nicely," Boyd says. "We put all these data together, and we're like, holy cow!"

The results might offer clues for finding life living under otherworldly surfaces, too. "Applying this finding to other planets and moons suggests that underground life might be most easily found in places where earthquakes often happen," says Steven D'Hondt, who studies below-seafloor life at the University of Rhode Island and was not involved in the work. "It's a wonderful study," he adds.

Pick a Type That Interests You

Many people think all classics are the same. In fact, classics include many different types. For example, Jane Austen's works appeal more to women, while Jack London's focus on nature and survival. If the classics are something you read with difficulty rather than enjoy, . Start with plots that interest you, then branch out from there to explore a variety of classic works.

Do a Little Research

Don't jump blindly into a classic novel because you might feel lost. A quick online search will give you enough background to help you understand the story. For example, if you choose to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, . You can possibly get enough sources online to prepare you.

Watch the Movie, If There Is One

. After you complete a classic novel, find the movie. Seeing the story come to life will make the foggy parts of the novel much clearer. As an added bonus, you will be equipped to compare the book with the movie and find the differences like a literary SCHOLAR at this point!

Learning how to read and understand classic novels is achievable for anyone. You don't have to be a genius to embrace and appreciate classic literature. ! With these tips, you will be a wiser, more refined reader with a deeper appreciation of the literary arts and their influence on society.

A. Anyone can do it

B. enter the title into your search bar

C. some terrific resources will appear

D. it's best if you pick the topics you like best

E. Scores of classic novels have been adapted to films

F. Classic novels are meant to be appreciated — they take time and focus to read

G. Classics can be challenging with unfamiliar settings and old-fashioned language

About a year before he got the tattoo, Conklin's world came7. His son Bennett was born with a physical8, which later turned out to be a heart defect (缺陷). Over the next 30 days, Benny, as he's known, experienced multiple surgeries to9 the defect. It was touch and go all the way. But the boy was a10 and survived his hardship.

Growing up with that scar would be the next battle he'd have to11, and Conklin didn't want to leave him12. At the Sunken Ship Tattoo Studio, in Boonton, New Jersey, he13 the owner, Jimmy Ingram, a photo of Benny's scar and said, "Gimme one of these!"

It may seem14. But, says Conklin, "I wanted him to know he's never lonely in this fight. His scar is his story of survival. Mine is a15: Whatever he carries, I'll carry too."

A 30-minute drive from downtown in the capital transports you to a world feels decades ahead. The southern Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, has become a home for a cutting-edge robot mall, a car factory and "AI new-quality community".

All of them are now attracting curious, tech-savvy visitors eager (experience) a new way of life shaped by technology-driven tourism. Enter the Robot Mall showroom, you're greeted by a robot resembling the Monkey King, holding its golden stick. "It (active) interacts with people," says Meng Yanpei, who is in charge of (commerce) operations at the mall. When someone approaches, this "monkey" turns and performs, (respond) in real time to sensors that detect visitors.

With 4,000 square meters spread across four floors, there are over 150 robotic products from more than 70 manufacturers nationwide on display. They range from dancing robot dogs and robots of the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai that recite his poems, medical robots and robotic household helpers that fold laundry. "We want to show people that robots aren't distant from our (life)," Meng explains.

With a 4S concept mirroring automotive dealerships, which covers sales, spare parts, after-sales service, and surveys for feedback, the showroom (achieve) tens of millions of yuan in sales since opening in August 2025, with similar amounts to follow.

（1）计划的目的；

（2）具体安排；

（3）你的期待。

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。

My Weekend Health Plan

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As soon as the bell rang for the end of school, I hurried to the library to join the Writing Club, where Miss Lisa asked us to work with critique partners (互评搭档) and give helpful feedback (反馈) to each other.

My critique partner was Penny. We sat across from each other and exchanged our stories. I was nervous because I was good at creating story ideas but struggled with spelling, grammar, and punctuation (标点). Unlike me, Penny always did perfectly in these areas. I read her story straight through and found it incredible — it was about a stray dog named Sunny. "Wow, great story," I told her. "I don't have any suggestions. It's perfect!" "Yours too," she mumbled. She didn't even look at me as she passed mine back.

Soon Miss Lisa declared time was up and left. Penny rushed out in such a hurry that her things fell out of her backpack. She quickly picked them up. I found a book under the table titled Sunny the Brave. After reading the description on the back, I realized its plot was exactly the same as Penny's story — She had copied the idea!

It wasn't fair. I decided to tell Miss Lisa later. Outside school, I saw Penny sitting on a bench. I walked over and gave her the book only to find her crying. All of a sudden, I wasn't angry anymore. I remembered that my job as her critique partner was to give helpful feedback, not to make her feel bad. But what should I say? Then her mom arrived. I only heard her whisper "Thanks," before she hurried off.

I kept thinking about Penny and her story as I walked home. I decided to ask Mom what I should do. I found her in the kitchen making dinner with Dad. Watching them prepare food together, it occurred to me that Mom and Dad had different skills, making them a great creative team. With Dad's attention to detail and Mom's sense of adventure, their dinners turned out delicious. That gave me an idea to suggest to Penny.

（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。

At school the next morning, I found Penny at her locker.

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Miss Lisa was more than happy to agree with our idea.

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