浙江省杭州二中2023-2024学年上学期高二年级期末考英语试题.docx

浙江省杭州二中2023-2024学年上学期高二年级期末考英语试题
学校:___________姓名：___________班级：___________考号：___________

一、阅读理解
A recent study has discovered that gentle sound stimulation, referred to as pink noise, could enhance deep sleep among older adults and strengthen their word recall abilities.
Deep sleep is critical for memory consolidation. But beginning in middle age, it decreases considerably, contributing to memory loss in aging. The sound stimulation significantly enhanced deep sleep in participants and their scores on a memory test. This innovative approach offers a simple and safe means to potentially enhance memory among older individuals and mitigate the natural age-related memory decline.
A team of researchers from the Northwestern University in the US gathered 13 adults aged 60 and above, monitoring their sleep in a lab for two nights. On both nights, the participants underwent a memory test, went to bed while wearing headphones and a special cap, and took the memory test again in the morning. But without the participants’ awareness, researchers only played pink noise into the headphones on one night. More specifically, they timed the sounds to match the participants’ slow-wave oscillations. During deep sleep, brain waves slow to approximately one oscillation per second, compared to about ten oscillations per second during wakefulness. The system they employed in the study allowed the team to deliver a low burst of pink noise at the “precise moment” when the participants’ slow waves rose — a pattern that is unique to each person.
The study found that participants’ slow waves increased after the night of sound stimulation, suggesting a potential enhancement in their deep sleep quality. And in the morning after hearing pink noise, they performed three times better on memory tests than they did after sleeping without any sound stimulation.
The study was a relatively small one and Northwestern has taken steps to confirm its findings and to study how longer-term use of pink noise affects sleep. The team aims to develop an affordable device that people can use at home from the comfort of their beds.
1．What did the study reveal about the impact of pink noise?
A．It disturbs overall sleep quality. B．It weakens word recall abilities.
C．It increases the length of sleep. D．It boosts memory performance.
2．The underlined word “mitigate” in the second paragraph most probably means _________.
A．decrease B．notice C．worsen D．describe
3．What can be learned about the new study?
A．It adjusted participants’ slow-wave oscillations precisely.
B．It employed a sound system to match slow-wave oscillations.
C．It compared different sound effects on the elderly and the youth.
D．It played various sorts of pink noises into participants’ headphones.
4．It can be inferred that the approach used in the study _________.
A．pose a long-term risk for older adults.
B．requires an innovative and affordable device
C．has the potential to be put into practice.
D．lacks researchers’ interest in confirming findings.

Two very different movies were released on July 21 this summer in the West, bringing record numbers of people into cinemas as the “Barbenheimer (芭比海默)” trend took over social media.
Barbie and Oppenheimer have been huge hits around the world, with Barbie alone making over 1 billion US dollars just 17 days after release. This makes it Wamer Bros studio’s fastest movie to reach $1 billion and the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, the first-ever solo female filmmaker with a billion-dollar film.
Barbie and Oppenheimer are an interesting pair because of how different they are from one another. Barbie is about a famous toy coming to life and facing issues of sexism and finding her own identity. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer is a serious male-driven historical film about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. The release of these two huge, wildly different movies on the same day led to the creation of countless memes (表情包) under the Barbenheimer hashtag. Filmgoers have even gone to see both movies one right after the other, with some dressing up in pink for Barbie going on to see Oppenheimer as well.
Meanwhile, people have found some of the “Barbenheimer” memes disturbing. Atomic bombs killed many people and they think the memes made light of a very dark time in history. But the films have brought a healthy boost to cinema ticket sales around the world, helping an industry that has faced many challenges in recent years. The increasing popularity of streaming services and the COVID-19 pandemic have kept people out of cinemas. Now, the strikes from writers and actors over concerns of pay and about the use of artificial intelligence by film studios are also having an impact. Add to that a public tired of yearly big movies about superheroes and fast cars, as declining ticket sales suggest.
Described as a historic moment for the movie industry. “‘Barbenheimer’ will go down as one of the biggest and unexpected milestones in the history of cinema,” Paul Dergarabedian at Comscore told CNN.
5．What made Barbie a significant achievement for Wamer Bros?
A．Representing male-driven films. B．Reaching $1 billion in record time.
C．Addressing issues about identity. D．Greta Gerwig becoming the director.
6．Why are Barbie and Oppenheimer described as an “interesting pair”?
A．They both feature female characters. B．They were released on the same day.
C．They have opposite disturbing memes. D．They explore completely different themes.
7．What is the impact of the releases of Barbic and Oppenheimer?
A．They have caused a decrease in streaming service.
B．They have stimulated cinema ticket sales globally.
C．They have motivated people to avoid the cinemas.
D．They have sparked controversy regarding sexism.
8．Which challenge has the film industry faced in recent times?
A．Increasing costs of film production.
B．Conflicts with social media platforms.
C．Filmgoers’ preference for superhero movies.
D．Disapproval from writers and actors over Al use.

Imagine you’re out for an evening stroll (闲逛) in a foreign city, looking to find a restaurant for dinner. You will look for the busiest restaurant with the most diners because its popularity is bound to reflect on the quality of food and service. But is this true?
In tourist areas, which lack regular, local customers, the number of diners is unlikely to hold information about the quality of the meal. In this case, following the example of others could have led to a sub-optimal (次佳的) dinner choice in an overcrowded restaurant.
Spontaneously (不由自主地) copying other people’s thoughts or choices or simply going with the crowd is often referred to as “Herd behaviors”. It is a frequent occurrence among humans as well as many other animals, a common example being sheep.
Herding can appear to make a lot of sense. Average judgements of large groups of people often outperform individual choices. Furthermore, following the crowd appears to offer protection and comfort — after all, there’s “safety in numbers” — while helping to maintain a favourable reputation. Finally, following the herd reduces the effort needed to make a personal or unique decision.
Herd behaviors, while common and easy to explain, can have many harmful effects. Blindly following the herd can have grave consequences when trying to escape from danger. As seen in examples during earthquakes, herding may result in the entire crowd rushing for the same door even if other exits are available. This unavoidably affects evacuation (撤退) efforts and may result in avoidable injuries or even deaths.
Psychology research suggests that it’s surprisingly difficult to resist the influences of the herd. In an experiment involving financial decision making, researchers found that warning messages about the potential errors of the crowd were surprisingly ineffective in helping customers make better choices. It appears there is no quick and easy fix. Instead, it is advisable to involve individuals adopting more critical approaches towards peers’ opinion, and questioning others’ behaviors as opposed to blindly following them.
9．What does the author want to tell us by the restaurant example?
A．Undesirable outcomes of herding, B．Wise dinner choices of most customers.
C．Practical ways of avoiding herding. D．Poor conditions of popular dining places.
10．What does paragraph 4 mainly tell us about herding?
A．Its application. B．Its disadvantages.
C．Its definition. D．Its benefits.
11．What does the author suggest readers do in the last paragraph?
A．Send warning messages. B．Follow peers’ opinions.
C．Stop behaving critically. D．Have our own judgments.
12．Which is the best title for the text?
A．Why can’t you find the reasons for herding?
B．Why shouldn’t you follow the crowd blindly?
C．When should you avoid influences of herding?
D．How can you discover wisdom of crowds?

Dispose of Your Credit Card Without Burying It
Disposing of unwanted items in our lives often means simply throwing them into the garbage or recycling bin — or, if they’re still useful, giving them away. It’s different with old credit cards, which should be destroyed so nobody can use them fraudulently (欺诈地). 13 Here’s how to get rid of an old card.
First, contact the issuer
If closing the account is your goal, you’ll have to call the number on the back of your card and ask to do so. If your card is a rewards card, remember to first redeem points or cash back. Change any automatic payments to a different card, and be sure to pay the final card bill.
Cut up plastic cards
Sharp scissors and smart trimming will do the job here. “We recommend that consumers cut through the EMV chip, then further cut the card a few times along the short side, and dispose of the sections in more than one trash bag,” says Sarah Grano, a spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association. 14
Send back metal cards
15 Contact your issuer. Typically, you can mail it back for disposal. “For example, when American Express sends a replacement card, it also sends an addressed return envelope to mail back an old metal card for destruction,” says Heather Norton, spokeswoman for American Express.
Check back on your account
Don’t obsess about identity theft of an old credit card. You generally won’t be responsible for fraudulent charges anyway. 16 It’s a good idea to check your account statement to make sure there’s been no fraud.
Closing an account can hurt you
Closing a credit card account can lower your credit rating. That’s because credit scores consider your “credit utilization ratio’”, or how much of your available credit you’re using. And when you close an account, you have less available credit. 17 Closing an old card decreases the average age of your accounts.
A．It could be worth closing the account anyway.
B．Scores also consider the length of time you’ve had the card open.
C．Or feed cards into a machine designed to handle them.
D．Take care with debit cards and other plastic where fraud means you might be missing money.
E．But how to destroy a payment card properly is not obvious, especially with new metal credit cards.
F．Destroying a metal card by yourself is harder and potentially dangerous.
G．Skip this step if you’re simply replacing an expired card or one that has been compromised.

二、完形填空
I am the “Laundry Goddess”. Well, that’s what my kids call me anyway because I have the talent for finding the right 18 for any stain. From spaghetti sauce and grass marks to ballpoint ink stains, whatever my family 19 me, I seem to be able to find a way to make it look brand new again. It’s a skill I got from my mother. My mom wouldn’t admit it, but I think she 20 doing the laundry.
The laundry room was Mom’s territory. It was 21 , with only the shushing (沙沙声) of the washing machine or the hum of the dryer to interrupt her. She would 22 down early in the morning, often still in her housecoat, to put in the first 23 of the day. We would find her there, leaning on the freezer, happily having a coffee and reading the newspaper or her library book.
I don’t remember Mom teaching me the ways of the laundry room. I learned to 24 towels and small items as a youngster. I spent many hours ironing clean cotton handkerchiefs and pillowcases. But the 25 wasn’t part of my training. So when I left home and moved 26 the country, stain 27 required an expensive long-distance phone call home.
My washer and dryer seem to have more 28 than a jet plane, certainly many more than the machines used by my mom. I have made the 29 from laundry powder to liquid, and I have my own favorite stain 30 . But every time I step into the laundry room and think about how to deal with a particularly difficult stain, I 31 the Laundry Goddesses who came before me for her wisdom and perseverance. And each clean item of clothing is a 32 force in a chaotic world.
18．A．place B．reason C．cover D．solution
19．A．provides for B．aims at C．throws at D．makes for
20．A．meant B．hated C．loved D．bothered
21．A．neat B．quiet C．messy D．secure
22．A．count B．put C．lay D．head
23．A．load B．item C．burden D．work
24．A．display B．edge C．make D．fold
25．A．washing B．ironing C．weaving D．tidying
26．A．to B．across C．within D．over
27．A．approval B．control C．appeal D．removal
28．A．issues B．appliances C．settings D．commands
29．A．model B．knob C．cycle D．switch
30．A．fighters B．partners C．producers D．keepers
31．A．find B．thank C．mourn D．ask
32．A．troubling B．calming C．amusing D．conflicting

三、语法填空
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Based on the ancient Silk Road trade route, 33 (it) reach has since expanded to involve regions 34 approximately 60 different languages are spoken. On Oct 16, language educators from BRI countries formed a network in Beijing 35 (help) remove language barriers and address cultural misunderstandings.
The Belt and Road Languages and Cultures Network (BRLCN) is a non-governmental organization tasked with enhancing language education and promoting linguistic connectivity among BRI 36 (participant). The organization’s inaugural meeting was held in the lead-up to the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation,   37 two-day event that opened in Beijing on Oct 17.
The inaugural council of the network 38 (compose)of nearly 60 language education and cultural organizations from more than 50 countries, with China Daily 39 (serve)as its chair. The network’s secretariat is located in China Daily Media Group’s language-education branch, 21st Century English Education.
The BRLCN plans to attract more than 100 members by the end of 2024. The BRLCN 40 (host) the Belt and Road Forum for Language and Culture Collaboration 41 (annual), and support its membe