福建省泉州市泉港区第一中学2023-2024学年高二下学期第一次月考英语试题（音频暂未更新）

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (the Hall of Fame for short) is a fantastic destination for everyone from lifelong basketball fans to families with children who are just beginning to explore the world's most popular sport. Each year, several thousand visitors crowd into this birthplace of basketball.

Dates and Hours of Operation

The Hall of Fame is open Wednesday through Sunday from late November through March 31 and daily the rest of the year. Hours are from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. (Friday through Sunday: 10 a.m.to 5 p.m.). Because it may close for private functions, it is wise to confirm hours of operation ahead of your visit Just call 1-877-466-6752.

Ticket Information

Admission to the Hall of Fame (as of 2019) is $24 for people aged over 16, $16 for youths aged from 5 to 16 and free for children under age 5. Since the number of visitors is limited each day, you are advised to make a reservation in advance. For more information, please call 1-877-466-6831.

Travelling from All Directions

The Hall of Fame is conveniently located within driving distance from Boston (in the east), Albany (in the west), Vermont (in the north) and New York (in the south) and is right off of MA Route 91. For those who prefer to travel by air, the museum is not far from Logan International Airport and Bradley International Airport. For more information about the transportation, call 1-877-446-6755.

A Friendly Reminder

• No food and beverage inside of the hall.

• Backpacks and any large bags are not permitted inside of the hall unless needed for medical reasons.

• If you wish to participate in shooting on Center Court, please wear appropriate shoes. Also, contests of any kind and half court shots are not allowed for everyone's safety.

• For anything you don't know for sure, call 413-781-6500.

Two of the saddest words in the English language are "if only". I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.

My father is famous in our family for saying, "Take the extra minute to do it right." I always try to live by the "extra minute" rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an "if only" moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding（衬垫）onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.

I don't only avoid those "if only" moments when it comes to safety. It's equally important to avoid "if only" in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say "I love you" or "I forgive you." When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn't be here. But then I thought about the fact that he's 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn't give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.

I know there will still be occasions when I have to say "if only" about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm buying myself peace of mind and that's the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.

Technology seems to discourage slow reading. Reading on screens tires eyes easily. So online writing is more skimmable than print. The neuroscientist Mary Walt argued this "new norm" of skim reading is producing "an invisible, dramatic transformation" in how readers process words. And brains now favor rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.

We shouldn't overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as we learn to read more skillfully. And fears about declining attention spans have proved to be false alarms. "Some critics worry about attention span and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline," The American author Selvin wrote. "But nobody ever said poems were evidence of short attention spans."

Yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. First, it means there's more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing means rapid release and response. Once published, online articles start forming a comment string underneath. Such mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun, but is probably lacking in profound reflection.

Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a source of personal achievement. But this advocacy emphasizes "enthusiastic" or "eager" reading — neither suggest slow absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in their slow comprehension of words. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he's done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.

The human need for this kind of deep reading is too determined for any new technology to destroy. We often assume technological change can't be stopped, so older media are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle hasn't killed off printed books any more than cars killed off bicycles. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.

A new study suggests drinking coffee as soon as someone wakes up from a poor night's sleep greatly affects metabolism（新陈代谢）and blood sugar control.

In the study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, UK researchers let 29 healthy men and women take part in three different overnight experiments. In the first two scenes, participants were given a sugary drink upon waking — first from a normal night's sleep, and then again after a poor night's sleep during which they were woken up for five minutes every hour. In the third, their sleep was similarly disrupted, but they were given a strong black coffee 30 minutes before consuming the sugary drink.

Blood samples from participants were taken following the sugary drink, which mirrored the calories of a typical breakfast, in each experiment. Results showed that one night of disrupted sleep did not worsen the participants' blood sugar responses at breakfast when compared to a normal night of sleep. However, strong black coffee consumed before breakfast increased the blood sugar response by around 50 percent.

By drinking such kind of drink after breakfast, UK researchers found that our bodies' ability to break down our food healthily is completely improved. Examining the effects of broken sleep and morning coffee across a range of different metabolic markers, scientists at the University of Bath found that, while one night of poor sleep had a limited effect on metabolism, drinking coffee before breakfast could have a negative effect on blood sugar control.

"We know that nearly half of us will wake in the morning and, before doing anything else, drink coffee — the more tired we feel, the stronger the coffee is. This study is important and has far-reaching health influences, and it indeed moves some coffee drinkers' heartstrings. As up to now we have had limited knowledge about what this is doing to our bodies, in particular for our metabolic and blood sugar control, so we have a long way to go." said Professor James Betts, co-director of the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism at the University of Bath.

One of the greatest biologists the world has ever seen was Charles Darwin. Darwin was born to a middle-class family in Shrewsbury, England, in February, 1809. His father was the leading doctor of the town.

 He loved to walk through the woods looking at plants and birds. At the proper age, he was admitted into Shrewsbury School. There he studied Latin, classical literature, and ancient history. Young Charles thought that these subjects were dull and useless. He would have preferred scientific studies. As a result, he did poorly.

In 1825, at the age of sixteen, Darwin was sent to Scotland to study medicine. He once wrote to his sister that his medical courses were completely stupid. By then, Darwin's father knew that his son would never become a doctor.

Darwin's father then sent him to Cambridge to become a clergyman（牧师）.During his Cambridge years, Darwin loved to collect beetles（甲壳虫）,but to him it was only a hobby. He didn't take it seriously.

 That was Professor John Henslow, the head of the Botany Department. Somehow, Darwin managed to graduate from Cambridge in 

1831. Upon graduation, Professor Henslow arranged for him to go with Captain Fitzroy on a survey trip around the world. During the voyage, Darwin collected rocks, bones, and insects. He took many notes on all that he observed. 

The widely believed theory in those days was that God created each creature separately and individually. In it, he explained his theory of evolution by natural selection. The theory was instantly and very strongly attacked. Darwin was accused of destroying religion and insulting（侮辱）the human race. Today, however, Darwin's theory is considered to be one of the major discoveries of modem science.

A. One person at Cambridge, however, did.

B. As a boy, Darwin showed a great interest in living things.

C. He studied there for two years and continued to do poorly.

D. Shrewsbury was a busy market town surrounded by rich farmlands.

E. In 1859, Darwin published his famous book On the Origin of Species.

F. The thoughts that led to his theory of evolution were beginning to form.

G. By the time Darwin died in 1882, he was recognized as one of England's       

greatest scientists.

My brother Ken was born with a brain disease. Though Mama was extremely loving, she never babied Ken. She 1  him to do whatever we did.

I remember once we got a slide in our backyard. Ken was 2  at first sight. But unable to 3  the steps with the braces（支架）on his legs, Ken could only look up at the rest of us from the ground.

One day, Mama put Ken in the backyard, this time without his braces, and watched him 4  with great difficulty right over to the slide. For the next three hours, Ken climbed the ladder and fell, climbed the ladder and fell, 5 . He skinned his knees, and his head was bleeding.

Our neighbor 6 at Mama, "What kind of woman are you? Look at the blood. Get that boy off that ladder!" Mama told her kindly that if it 7 her, she would have to close her curtains. Ken had decided to go down the slide, and down the slide he would go. It took a couple of days of 8 before he could go up the ladder and down the slide as well as the rest of us, and another week before he could do it with his braces on.

Ken was not supposed to make it to his tenth birthday but he has 9  his disease and is now a 42-year-old man who lives 10  and even holds down a job. He 11  everything the way he did that slide so many years ago. What a(n) 12  Mama gave him that day by expecting him to be the 13  he could be.

Though I often feel I fall short when I compare my 14 to hers, it gives me great comfort to know that her spirit is 15 me, somewhere—preparing me to make "mothering magic" of my own.

Numerous Chinese cultural and art treasures  (put) on show in many parts of the world over the past years, showcasing the fantastic Chinese civilization on the global stage and  (promote) cultural exchanges.

In December, 2018, New Zealand's national museum started a four-month exhibition, where both terracotta warriors（兵马俑）and more than 160 ancient antique pieces (make) of gold, jade and bronze were displayed. On the opening day, local citizens lined up to enjoy this "once in a lifetime" experience. The exhibition, provided visitors with some knowledge of long standing Chinese civilization, was (high) appreciated for the individuality of each terracotta warrior and the (believable) creativity needed to build the army.

Treasures showing the lives of emperors and empresses from the Qing Dynasty also went on display in museums in Washington. D. C.and Moscow in 2019,  over 100 pieces put on show, including realistic  (painting), furnishings and jewelry from the Palace Museum in Beijing. The exhibition was also a huge success.

Chinese and foreign museums have been making exchanges 64 (encourage) dialogue between civilizations and foster people's understanding of and engagement with cultures that interest (they). It is an important job for museums to bring the world closer.

1.来访人员；   

2. 活动安排；  

3. 活动意义。

注意：

1.        词数80左右；

2.        可适当增加细节，使行文连贯；

3.        参考词汇：代表团delegation n.   

An Exchange Visit

It was one of the hottest days of the season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The creeks and streams were long gone back into the earth. It was a dry season that would bankrupt several farmers before it was through. Every day, my husband and his brothers would go about the tiring process of trying to get water to the farm. If we didn't see some rain soon, we would lose everything.

It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I have seen with my own eyes. I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He wasn't walking with the usual carefree abandon of a youth but with a serious purpose. I could only see his back. He was obviously walking with a great effort trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again toward the house. I went back to make sandwiches, thinking that whatever task he had been doing was completed.

Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful stride toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking carefully to the woods, and then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.

He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked, very careful not to spill the water he held. Maybe two or three tablespoons were held in his tiny hands. I sneaked(slipped) closer as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much greater purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw an amazing sight. A mother deer with a huge pair of deer horns appeared in front of him, with a baby fawn（幼鹿）lying on the dry ground. I almost screamed to get him away.

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，每段的开头语己为你写好；

Paragraph 1

However, Billy walked right up to them.

Paragraph 2

I witnessed the most beautiful heart working hard to save a life.