浙江省温州市2023-2024学年高二上学期1月期末教学质量统一检测英语试题（A卷）

 阅读理解

California is home to some of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the country. Suppose you want to appreciate unique landscapes and native plants, this post has what you need to experience in the Golden State. 

San Francisco Botanical Garden

Located in the Golden Gate Park, this garden is home to over 9, 000 types of plants. It has 55 acres of walking paths and streams where families, couples, and solo travelers can escape from the noise of the city. It offers attractive florals(植物群)during every season of the year. 

California Botanic Garden

It's the largest botanic garden devoted to California-native plants. As a living museum, the California Botanic Garden features over 22, 000 California-native plant species, many of which are endangered species. The garden offers guided walks and tours for visitors who want a behind-the-scenes look at the garden and its many beautiful species. 

UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

This garden features the most diverse landscapes in the world. It has over 10, 000 types of plants. The plant collections here are impressive; visitors can wander for hours and still find new plants to admire. Special events are hosted there throughout the year, including plant sales and summer camps for kids. 

San Diego Botanic Garden

This coastal California botanic garden has 4 miles of trails and ocean views and features over 5,000 plant species. Among 29 uniquely themed gardens on-site, the bamboo garden collection is a must-see. With over 100 species within the living collection of bamboo, guests can experience many distinctive eco-friendly plants up close. 

If exploring the botanical gardens in California is on your to-do list, don't wait any longer!

We're confident this collection of must-see outdoor gardens will entertain, amaze, and inspire you. 

 阅读理解

Have you ever wondered what happens to your mobile phones and laptops after you throw them out to make way for a newer model? According to its latest Global E-Waste Monitor, India is the third top producer of e-waste in the world. E-waste in Indian landfill goes on to pollute soil and groundwater, affecting food supply systems and water sources. 

Thankfully, the country has a new group of artists who are changing these thrown mechanical items-from mobile phones to old televisions-into large murals( 壁 画 )and artworks to creatively show their concern for the waste problem. 

Over the past quarter of a century, Mumbai's Haribaabu Naatesan has transformed hundreds of tonnes of e-waste into art, integrating elements from nature and industry. "I get my waste material from friends. relatives and neighbours who know my interest in e-art and send me bags of thrown electronic appliances, "says Naatesan. Over his career, he has created huge murals for several companies. He has also showed his work at the India Art Fair, as well as several other national displays.

Another artist Vishwanath Davangere has also long worked with e-waste. He likes to take apart old laptops and reassemble(重新组装)them into birds, animals and plants. After retirement, he started pursuing this hobby more seriously and started selling his creations across the world. His most outstanding works include a robotic Egyptian statue with glowing red eyes and a Milky Way made from keyboard keys. He hopes to enable others to reconsider their own consumption habits and make more environmentally conscious choices. 

"By giving e-waste a second chance, I aim to raise awareness about the environmental impact of electronic waste."says Davangare, who today has a collection of more than 600 eco-art objects.

 阅读理解

In1921, Karel Capek's play R. U. R:Rossum's Universal Robots had its first public performance in Prague, and was translated into English the following year. He needed a name for the factory-produced humanoid workers of the story, and was thinking of coining something based on the word "labour". But his brother Josef suggested an old Czech word for "forced labour", robota. And the word "robot" was born.

If the Capeks had known English, they might have chosen one of the words with relevant senses that were already in the language. "Automaton" had been available since the 17th century and "android" since the 18th. But the clear sound of "robot" seemed to capture the public imagination, because within five years it was being used not only for intelligent artificial beings but for any machine capable of carrying out a complex set of movements.

In science fictions(小说), the word took on new life, with writers such as Isaac Asimov writing well-regarded novels in which robots played a central role. It was these writers who first shortened "robot" to "bot", but none of them could have expected the explosion of usages which arrived in the 1990s, as the shortened word came to be adopted in computing. Today, a bot is any piece of software that runs an automated task, such as in searching the Internet or playing computer games. It has also become a suffix(后缀) , with the function of the "bot" explained in the other part of the word, as in searchbot, infobot, spybot and warbot.

As early as 1923, George Bernard Shaw had applied the word "robot" to people who act automatically, without thinking or emotion, usually because of the repetitive work they have to do. Now anyone having automaton-like behaviour risks attracting the label. A movie star called Samantha who has taken on the same type of character too many times might have her roles described as "Samanthabots. "And in 2009"Obamabots"arrived -people who support Barack Obama without really knowing anything about him.

 阅读理解

The road to a Nobel Prize, the most respected scientific award in the world, is growing ever longer, with almost half of winners now waiting more than 20 years from making a Nobel-worthy discovery to receiving the prize. 

One analysis shows that the average time between publishing the work and receiving one of the science prizes has nearly doubled in the past 60 years. Across the three science prizes, chemistry now has the longest "Nobel lag"-an average of 30 years over the past decade -and physiology or medicine has the shortest, at 26 years.

Alfred Nobel's will stated that the prizes should be awarded "to those who, during the previous year, shall have given the greatest benefit to mankind. "In reality this has only happened a few times. But in the first half of the twentieth century, it was common for Nobel prize winners to be in their 30s -and that is unheard of now, says Santo Fortunato, now a computational social scientist at Indiana University.

There are a number of possible reasons for this, says Yian Yin, a computational social scientist at Comell University. It could be that the overall number of breakthroughs is increasing each year, so awards cannot keep up with the number of people who deserve to be recognized, he says. It is also the case that the importance of some works, which Yin describes as "sleeping beauties" are only realized years or decades later. Besides, the lengthening gap could be a sign that there has been a decrease in "disruptive" science -important studies or discoveries that change the paradigm( 范 式 )of their field. This could be causing the Nobel committees to focus more on the past.

Fortunato points out that, if the gap continues to grow, outstanding scientists could miss out on the award owing to the Nobel Committee's rule banning posthumous prizes(追授奖项) . "It has to stop at some point, "he says, adding that a rethink of the posthumous-awarding ban would allow more people's work to get the recognition that it deserves.

 阅读下面短文, 从短文后的选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余 选 项 。

Many people suspect the effectiveness of body language.  The following is a list of popular myths(谬论) and misconceptions. 

Myth 1: Faking body language is not OK.

Faking is part of human's way of life and people seem to be always fascinated with any method that allows them to fake when they need it. Is that wrong? The truth is there is no harm in trying. The ultimate aim with body language is to improve the overall quality of the communication and allow you to get what you want. As selfish as this may sound, this is what everybody is after.  If you find that a particular technique works for you, go ahead and use it. 

Myth 2:You can spot a lie through body language.

Over the years there have been many claims that certain non-verbal signals indicate that a person is lying. These gestures and non-verbal signals are now well-known, such as touching the nose and covering the mouth. However, some researchers have found that these signals don't directly indicate that someone is lying.  Pressure doesn't necessarily mean that the person is lying; it is only a signal among others. 

Myth 3:

For a long time, presentation coaches on body language seem to have been advising people that holding their hands behind them is a sign of power.  Hence, putting hands behind you with an intention to show off your power is a myth. Generally, when hands are hidden from view, people become mistrustful of you because they cannot see what you are doing or holding. 

A. There is no point in denying it. 

B. Body language is specific to culture. 

C. All they indicate is that someone is stressed. 

D. Research shows that most people find it wrong. 

E. Putting your hands behind your back shows power. 

F. The question is whether it is possible to fake body language. 

G. This negative view towards body language is often due to myths. 

 阅读下面短文, 从每题所给的 A、B 、C、D 四个选项中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

We've all had them:"It's been one of those days" days. It starts out1 , moves to worse, and then gets horrible. That's what I was having. As the day wore on, I started 2 dinner.

Midway through the recipe, I 3 I was out of salt. I jumped into my car, and 4 to a neighborhood grocery store. Along with the salt, I5 a few extra things and headed for the checkout stand. At the register, I wrote the6 for the required $12.51, and the clerk7 my items. 

Then I noticed the salt8 in the shopping cart. I handed it to the cashier. She9 , "Why not just pay for it with cash? It's only 35 cents. "I 10 I'd run out of the house with only a single check and my driver's license. Then the cashier11 a dollar bill from her pocket and rang up the salt. Then she 12 . I take the change! She explained she always kept a few singles in her pocket for such emergencies. That13 gesture turned my entire day from 14 to smiles. It's little things like what she did for me that day that truly make this a brighter world, and I'll always remember her15 . 

 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

For many young Chinese, being forced to take traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)to treat a fever or a cough is a bitter childhood memory. But today, the same herbal drinks  (sell)in stylish cups at drugstores, some of which have installed trendy cafe counters(柜台)to appeal  youngsters who want to keep healthy after late nights in the office or on the dance floor. 

No longer just  (connect)with the healthy living habits of the elderly, herbal drinks like suanmeitang and goji berry tea are being welcomed by young  (consumer). 

Last year, a drink contained an entire ginseng root in each bottle claimed to reduce the ill effects of (stay)up late. It was reported to have received 10, 000 orders a day when it hit the Chinese market. "At the (high)of the season, we received 800 orders a day, "said 36-year-old Jiang Xu, the co-founder of a TCM drink chain in eastern China's Jiangsu province. Jiang used to sell milk tea but turned to TCM drinks when she (notice)that the youngsters were sounding the alarm about overweight. "Compared with milk tea, TCM drinks are (healthy).

It meets health preservation demand of young people, "Jiang said.

 假定你是李华, 上周你提交了一篇名人传记的英文书评, 但得分低于预期, 你认为值得更高的分数。请你给外教Mr. Jones 写一封邮件说明情况, 内容包括：1. 给出理由；2. 期待反馈。

注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右2. 可适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯。

Dear Mr. Jones

……

Yours

Li Hua

 阅读下面短文, 根据所给情节进行续写, 使之构成一个完整的故事。

December strode(阔步走)into the mountains of Colorado, shooting snowflakes and blowing them into a thick blanket of white. As Christmas approached, the farmers there closed down most wooden houses for a holiday cheer. Not all were closed, however. There was still work to be done, and someone had to stay. That someone was Slim Carter. 

Old Jake, another farmer there, had offered to keep him company, but Slim shook his head. "After all, a young man like me has got plenty of Christmases ahead, "Slim joked. Before Jake offered to stay again, Slim hurried on. "I'll just have a private Christmas this year, and that's the way I want it. "So he was left alone at the house. Alone, with his horse in the farm and the wolves roaring in the forest nearby.

Truth was, Slim had decided not to celebrate Christmas at all. It wasn't that he didn't like Christmas. In fact, his Christmas memories were good ones. His mother would fill their house with the light of candles and the smell of candy. His father would make their Christmas tree hunt an all-day, men-only affair. Slim smiled as he remembered sitting on the broad back of their horse with the freshly cut tree along behind. Back home, they would cover the tree with paper snowflakes and homemade decorations and sing all the Christmas songs they knew. And that's the way he liked it. Those were the memories he pulled out on nights when he was working alone. Such memories warmed him inside, even if his outsides were aching with cold. 

This was Slim's first year away from home. "Christmas is nothing if not spent with family, "Slim declared to the empty house. That was the real reason he'd sent Jake away. He figured he would handle Christmas better if he just pretended it was an ordinary winter workday.

But on Christmas Eve, as Slim headed back with snow beneath his feet and stars overhead, his head hung low. It was Christmas, even without the tree and the gifts. Christmas, and he was all alone. 

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。

Then he remembered decorating the tree with his family again. 

……

While singing to his decorated Christmas tree, Slim heard a knock on the door