2024年1月浙江省首考普通高等学校招生全国统一考试英语试题

Tom Sawyer Play Is an Adventure

A 35-minute hand-clapping, foot-stomping musical version of a Mark Twain favorite returns with this Tall Stacks festival. 

"Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure" has all the good stuff, including the fence painting, the graveyard, the island and the cave. It is adapted by Joe McDonough, with music by David Kisor. That's the local stage writing team that creates many of the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati's original musicals, along with the holiday family musicals at Ensemble Theatre.

This year Nathan Turner of Burlington is Tom Sawyer, and Robbie McMath of Fort Mitchell is Huck Finn. 

Tumer, a 10th-grader at School for Creative and Performing Arts, is a familiar presence on Cincinnati's stages. He is a star act or of Children's Theatre, having played leading roles in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Wizard of Oz, " and is fresh from Jersey Production "Ragtime".

McMath is a junior at Beechwood High School. He was in the cast of "Tom Sewyer" when it was first performed and is a Children's Theatre regular, with five shows to his credit. This summer he attended Kentucky's Governor's School for the Arts in Musical Theatre.

Note to teachers: Children's Theatre has a study guide demonstrating how math and science can be taught through "Tom Sawyer. " For downloadable lessons, visit the official website of Children's Theatre.

When was the last time you used a telephone box? I mean to make an actual phone call — not to shelter from the rain. Ages ago, right? The last time I used a phone box for its intended purpose was…2006. I was conducting auditions (试演) for my play in my tiny old shared house in London. Hoping to impress some talented actors to come and work for me for nothing, I spread some throws over the sofas and lit candles to make itseem a bit more "young professional".

As I rushed outdoors to empty the wastepaper baskets, the door swung shut behind me. Suddenly I was locked outside. My mobile phone was inside, but luckily there was a telephone box across the street. So, I called Directory Assistance, got put through to our landlady's managing agent, and had a spare key sent to me with just enough time to get back in before the actors arrived.

As it has been many years since I last used one, I should hardly be surprised that then are no longer any public telephones near my house. The last one standing has just been turn into a "mini community library": any passer-by can "borrow" a book from its shelves return it later, or replace it with another title from their own collection.

For a few months after the "library" opened, I didn't bother taking a look, as I had assumed that it would be stuffed full of cheese love stories. Then I noticed fork conducting spring cleans dropping boxes of voluminous books on various subjects there. And these books were free. This unbeatable price-point encouraged me to experiment with dozens of titles that I would never normally consider buying. And I've discovered some great books!

If I ever get trapped outside my house again, my local telephone box will, sadly no longer be able to connect me with my keys. But it can certainly keep me entertained while I wait for my wife to rescue me. 

On September 7, 1991, the costliest hailstorm (花暴) in Canadian history hit Calgary's southern suburbs. As a result, since 1996 a group of insurance companies have spent about $2million per year on the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. Airplanes seed threatening storm cells with a chemical to make small ice crystals fall as rain before they can grow into dangerous hailstones. But farmers in east-central Alberta — downwind of the hail project flights — worry that precious moisture (水分) is being stolen from their thirsty land by the cloud seeding.

Norman Stienwand, who farms in that area, has been addressing public meetings on this issue for years "Basically, the provincial government is letting the insurance companies protect the Calgary-Edmonton urban area from hail, " Mr. Stienwan d says, "but they're increasing drought risk as far east as Saskatchewan. "

The Alberta hail project is managed by Terry Krauss, a cloud physicist who works for Weather Modification Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota. "We affect only a very small percentage of the total moisture in the air, so we cannot be cousing drought. " Dr. Krauss says. "In fact, we may be helping increase the moisture downwind by creating wetter ground. "

One doubter about the safety of cloud seeding is Chuck Doswell, a research scientist who just retired from the University of Oklahoma. "In 1999, I personally saw significant tornadoes (龙卷风) form from a seeded storm cell in Kansas, " Dr. Doswell says. "Does cloud seeding create killer storms or reduce moisture downwind? No one really knows, of course, but the seeding goes on. "

Given the degree of doubt, Mr. Stienwand suggests, "it would be wise to stop cloud seeding. " In practice, doubt has had the opposite effect. Due to the lack of scientific proof concerning their impacts, no one has succeeded in winning a lawsuit against cloud-seeding companies. Hence, private climate engineering can proceed in relative legal safety.

The Stanford marshmallow (棉花糖) test was originally conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. Children aged four to six at a nursery school were placed in a room. A single sugary treat, selected by the child, was placed on a table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in the room. Follow-up studies with the children later in life showed a connect ion between an ability to wait long enough to obtain a second treat and various forms of success. 

As adults we face a version of the marshmallow test every day. We' re not tempted (诱惑) by sugary treats, but by our computers, phones, and tablets — all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for various types of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.

We are tempted by sugary treats because our ancestors lived in a calorie-poor world, and our brains developed a response mechanism to these treats that reflected their value — a feeling of reward and satisfaction. But as we've reshaped the world around us, dramatically reducing the cost and effort involved in obtaining calories, we still have the same brains we had thousands of years ago, and this mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to resist tempting foods that we know we shouldn't eat.

A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative environment as a species was information-poor, so our brains developed a mechanism that prized new information. But global connectivity has greatly changed our information environment. We are now ceaselessly bombarded (轰炸) with new information. Therefore, just as we need to be more thoughtful about our caloric consumption, we also need to be more thoughtful about our information consumption, resisting the temptation of the mental "junk food" in order to manage our time most effectively.

In the past few years, online learning has become a significant part of the university and college experience.  But are all online courses created equal? How can you be sure that digital learning is right for you?  

We interviewed students and professors to get their advice about online courses, The most obvious advantage of online learning is that you can study anywhere and anytime. "I think a point that many people lose sight of is how easy it can be to fall behind schedule, " says graduate student Amanda Bindman. Before choosing to study online, consider whether you're a self-motivated learner and if the material seems interesting enough to keep you going.

The tip that comes up most often is simple: build online courses into your weekly schedule, just like what you would do with in person courses.  He noted that his online students usually end up with lower grades. It is so easy to let an online course slide, but your grades will suffer as a result. Be sure to schedule set times to watch your lectures, read materials and contribute to online discussion boards. 

  A social connection is often a big part of learning. There are things you can do to ease this problem. Jessica Pink an undergraduate student, suggests taking online courses with a friend, so you can motivate each other to stay on track. You can also find students on the class discussion board to organize a study group, or schedule in-person meeting s with your professor to discuss course concepts. 

A. But that doesn't mean there aren't deadlines.

B. Your motivation should be your main concern. 

C. Do you know that online courses are also part of your education?

D. Professor Alex Davidson teaches the same course in person and online. 

E. The chief complain t about online courses is that they lack human interaction. 

F. If you take an online course, what can you do to ensure the best possible grade?

G. A survey found that 29 percent of college students registered for online courses. 

While taking a 20-hour train ride along the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in northwestern China, I had the kind of humbling, educational, and above all else, wonderful 1  with a local that all travelers long for. A young Chinese man 2  me on the train. My 3  friend spoke virtually no English, so I happily took the 4  to practice my Chinese. 

Over several hours he would tell me about how he had 5 a two-year professional school to quickly find a job 6 highways in order to help support his family. Perhaps the most 7 , however, was the fact that this man spent hours studying every day after hard physical labor. Without batting an eye, he would 8 a translated Emerson passage before asking about the literary influence of American 9 as a whole. "And what do you all learn about Russian authors?" I 10 him asking at one point.

It would have been easy to 11  my assumptions about this highway builder who had never been more than a few hundred miles from home. But this highly informed, 12  , and admirable person prevented me doing so. In the course of a couple of hours, he 13  me just how much one can gain from 14  with an open mind, and a willingness to 15  with locals from all walks of life. 

The shelves in most supermarkets are full of family-size this and multi-buy that. However, if you're shopping for one, buying extra (benefit) from price reductions doesn't make sense. Either your shopping is then too heavy to carry home you can't use what you've bought while it's still fresh.

Of course, shops are not charities — they price goods in the way will make them the most money. If most of their customers are happy to buy larger quantities, that's they'll promote. But that leaves the solo (单独) customers out of pocket and disappointed.

Many supermarkets are no longer doing "buy one get one free" promotions because of the (criticize) that they lead to waste. Consumers prefer money off individual items. However, though it's nice to get a few cents off a pack of sausages, it would help even more if they could sometimes (offer) in smaller packs. Even the biggest sausage fan doesn't want to eat them every day.

If your supermarket sells loose produce, then buying smaller quantities is easier. Over the last two years, some supermarkets  (start) selling chicken or salad in packs  (design) with two halves containing separate portions (份). Then, when you use one section,  other stays fresh. 

Who knows, perhaps some of the more forward-looking (one) may yet come out with a whole range of "just for you" pack sizes with special offers as well.

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：
 

Stand Up and Exercise, Everybody!

Eva spent the first week of high school trying to keep her head above water. One of the major headaches for her was finding her way in the huge school building. It was a six-story building. On each floor, hallways stretched in four directions, leading to classrooms, laboratories, and teachers' offices. Somewhere in the building, there was also a library, a cafeteria, and a gym.

Having a poor sense of direction, Eva found it impossible to get around in such a huge building. All the different hallways and rooms were too much to think about, let alone commit to memory. She decided that she would memorize where her classes were and then pretend that the rest of the place didn't exist.

In her first PE class, Eva was shocked when Coach Pitt announced that everyone had to run one mile around the track outside. She searched the faces of her classmates for signs of panic. There was nothing she feared more than having to run a whole mile. To Eva, "a mile" was used to describe long distances. It was ten miles from her home to her grandfather's, and that always seemed like a long way, even in a car!

When Coach Pitt blew his whistle (哨子), Eva figured she would be left in the dust. However, while some of her classmates edged ahead, others actually fell behind. " It's just the beginning, "she thought. " I'll come in last for sure. "

Soon Eva began to breathe hard, with her heart pounding and legs shaking. Feeling desperate, Eva started using a mind trick on herself. She stopped thinking about the word" mile. "Instead, she focused on reaching the shadow cast on the track by an oak tree up ahead. Then she concentrated on jogging to the spot where the track curved (拐弯). After that, she tried to see if she could complete her first lap. One lap turned into two, then three, then four.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1: 

When Coach Pitt said "Nice work!" to her at the finish line, Eva was surprised.

Paragraph 2: 

Eva decided to use the same trick to deal with the school building.