importance to people on Earth. The sun, of course, is one of them. The other is known as Polaris, the North Star. _____67_____. Therefore, it is a great compass(指南针).When people in the northern part of Earth look toward Polaris, they can be certain that they are facing north. The permanence of Polaris in the north sky has helped countless people find their destinations.

Before the invention of modern navigation tools, sailors relied on Polaris. From the top of their ships, sailors would look for Polaris to figure out their place at sea. They figured out the angle between the star and the horizon to determine their latitude(纬度). As long as the equations were not wrong, the results were very reliable. Polaris also let sailors determine North, South, East, and West. ______68______

To those who sail at night, changeable storms and dark clouds were more than annoying things.______69______.It’s possible for a captain to make an accidental wrong turn. The ship could become stranded at sea, and the frustrated captain would have no way to get the ship back on the right course. The sailor’s fears wouldn’t be relieved until the clouds cleared and Polaris came back into view. Even today, sailors sometimes choose to steer by using Polaris on clear nights.

_____70_____. The Big Dipper, a constellation that is well known in astrology, appears to revolve around Polaris. The handle of the Big Dipper always points to the North Star. When people get lost, it’s comforting to know that their problems can be relieved by looking at the sky.

A. It’s not difficult to tell the Polaris apart from the pile of other stars in the universe.

B. People who are lost can be relieved by gazing up at Polaris.

C. By knowing directions and their location, sailors could easily steer their ships. D. They could destroy entire journeys by blocking the view of Polaris.

E. It’s certain that the Polaris is part of a constellation(星座), which is not far from it.

F. It is special because it is the only star that always appears to be in the same place in the sky.

【答案】67. F 68. C

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69. D 70. A 【解析】 【分析】

本文属于说明文，介绍北极星对我们的作用和意义。 【67题详解】

根据后一句Therefore, it is a great compass(指南针).可知，因此是一个很好的指南针，讲述北极星的作用，F选项，北极星特殊之处在于它似乎总在天空的同一个位置，故可以用作指南针，切题，故选F。 【68题详解】

根据前一句Polaris also let sailors determine North, South, East, and West可知，北极星可以帮助水手确定东南西北方向，C选项，确定方向和位置之后，就可以调整航线，切题，故选C。 【69题详解】

根据前一句To those who sail at night, changeable storms and dark clouds were more than annoying things.可知，对于夜间航行的人来说，变幻莫测的风暴和黑云是最让人头疼的，D选项，这些东西可以通过遮蔽北极星让整个航线变得困难重重，紧接前一句，切题，故选D。 【70题详解】

根据后一句The Big Dipper, a constellation that is well known in astrology, appears to revolve around Polaris.可知，北斗七星似乎总是围绕着北极星运转，A选项，不难区分北极星和其他星星，后文讲述北极星的特别之处，切题，故选A。

【点睛】六选四做题技巧。做题的时候边读边做。各个问题附近的句子都需要重点阅读，圈画一些线索，再从选项中寻找相关的特征词用来判断正确答案。带入排除法也是一种很好的方法。另外，如果发现有一题拿不准的，先跳过，先做容易的能做出的题，直到读完整篇文章。至此，文章的要点和主旨、各个段落之间的逻辑关系应该基本就能清楚了。然后再回过去做之前不确定的题目。

比如小题4，根据后一句The Big Dipper, a constellation that is well known in astrology, appears to revolve around Polaris.可知，北斗七星似乎总是围绕着北极星运转，A选项，不难区分北极星和其他星星，后文讲述北极星的特别之处，切题，故选A。

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IV.Summary Writing

71.Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize in no more than 60 words the main idea of the passage and how it is illustrated. Use your own words as far as possible.

Unfair Comparisons

Thanks to social media, the distance between friends is smaller than ever. But does that make us happier? Not necessarily. A recent study has found spending too much time comparing your life with the seemingly perfect lives of your friends on social media can result in depressive symptoms.

We’ve all done it ---- browsing through our WeChat friends’ updates while feeling that green-eyed monster holding its head in our minds: Are their homes bigger and more tasteful? Are their vacations more expensive and exciting? Are their careers more successful and rewarding?

Comparison is the thief of joy. The more time you spend on social media, the more likely it is for you to feel depressive symptoms, according to a new study out of University of Houston.The study, led by Mai-Ly Steers, examines the potential impact online social comparison can have on a person’s mental health.

“The underlying mechanism is social comparison,” Steers said. “The reason why you feel these feelings is that you tend to socially compare yourself with your friends.”

This social comparison theory was popularized by US psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950s. According to an article in The Atlantic Festinger argued that people have born tendencies to track their progress and measure their self-worth by comparing themselves with other people. That social comparison leads to feelings of insignificance and insecurity. Research has since found that making social comparisons, especially upward comparisons (to people we think above us for whatever reason), are associated with negative health outcomes like depressive symptoms and decreased self-esteem.

,“You can’t really control the strong desire to compare because you never know

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what your friends are going to post. In addition, most of our friends tend to post about the good things that occur in their lives, while leaving out the bad. If we’re comparing ourselves with our friends’‘sharable highlights’, this may lead us to think their lives are better than they actually are, and thus make us feel worse about our own lives.”

So if you are the jealous type, maybe think about signing off of your WeChat for a while. Your well-being may depend on it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

【答案】Social media can cause depressive symptoms, because people are likely to compare with their friends. It can result in insignificant and insecure feelings about themselves, since they cannot resist their own desire to compare with their friends about their good things. Therefore, people should stay away from the WeChat for a while. 【解析】 【分析】

本文属于议论文，讲述不正确的比较会让我们抑郁，降低幸福感。

【详解】本文为总分结构，首先抛出观点社交媒体的发展，不正确的比较让我们更容易抑郁，之后具体解释了其原因，人们总是忍不住要去和朋友作比较，而朋友更多展示好的，隐藏了不好的东西，最后得出结论，提升幸福感要适当避开社交媒体。

V. Translation

Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.

72. 尽管他已经非常尽力，他还是没能弥补损失。(as) __________________________

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