After those words (23) _________ (read) again a dozen times, suddenly I was no longer bored. Outside in the sunshine, I kicked off my shoes and danced barefoot across a spring-green lawn.
I love spring. And this year, I was especially hungry to see it. Flying home last weekend to Las Vegas, after 10 days in California, I looked down on hills that were so green that I (24) _________ almost taste them. When I approached Vegas, the green turned a dull desert brown. We landed after sunset, and the only green to be seen was neon（霓虹灯）.
But the next morning, to my surprise, I (25) _________ (awake) to find signs of spring all over my yard. (26) _________ my absence, all sorts of things had leafed and bloomed. Three days later, I drove to Arizona to visit a friend and get yet another taste of spring seeing the Giants play the A’s in spring training. The drive across the desert was completely great, a variety of wildflowers and blooming cactuses.
Sometimes we need the chance (27) _________ (remind) that we’re still alive. After my husband died, a friend sent me a card which read: “Just (28) _________ you think you will never smile again, life comes back.”
Life persists, and so do (29) _________ in the green of spring and the dead of winter, in the birth of a child and the passing of a loved one; in the words we leave behind and the hearts of those (30) _________ will remember us. Spring reminds us that we’re alive forever. Section B
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one more word than you need.
A. affordable B. cultural C. driving D. influence E. materialism F. outward-looking G. resulted H. shaped I. sharing J. shift K. specialized Curiosity and Globalization are Driving a New Approach to Travel
Today’s political climate and negative headlines seem to point towards a more inward-looking
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global population - minds narrowing, borders going up. But with more people living and working overseas and becoming exposed to influences from different cultures, many of us are seeking a(n) __31__, connected world.
According to the recently published study from Culture Trip, 60% of people in the US and UK say that their outlook on life is shaped by the __32__ from different cultures. As a society, we not only want to discover and experience other cultures, we want to learn from them, too. This is one of the many positive side effects of globalization. At the same time, the economic landscape of the last decade has resulted in a shift in values away from __33__, with younger generations more interested in collecting experiences than possessions.
Welcome to the “new culture economy”.
The collision（碰撞）of two trends - globalization and the experience economy - has __34__ a new attitude to travel, with cultural curiosity at its heart. This is the “new culture economy”. The phenomenon is having a powerful impact on people’s interactions and definitions of __35__ exploration, and presents an incredible commercial opportunity.
While globalization is usually talked about in the context of the __36__ of trade and capital between countries, we shouldn’t forget that the __37__ force behind it all it people. Education, travel, exposure to other customs and geographies and the cultural integration（融合）are the more influential social effects of globalization. People are increasingly living or working in countries other than the ones in which they were born - more than half of respondents from the study have friends living overseas, all of which has __38__ in more interaction with global cultures.
Also, student debt and unafford-able housing have created a(n) __39__ in spending patterns, and so a new set of values has emerged in which experiences matter more than ownership. Travel is absolutely necessary to most people’s lives - in fact, nearly half of all respondents cut down on their daily expenses so they can save money to travel more. For “generation rent” in particular, no matter how expensive an experience or a trip, it is still more __40__ than a house.
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III. Reading Comprehension Section A
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
Communication, One Major Part of the Scientific Method
Scientists may feel it their duty to share their guesses, methods, and findings with the rest of the scientific community. This sharing serves two __41__. First, it supports the basic deal of skepticism（怀疑论）by making it possible for others to say, “Oh, yeah? Let me check that.” It tells others where to see what the scientist saw, and what techniques and tools to use. Second, it gets the word out so that others can use what has been discovered. This is essential because science is a(n) __42__ efforts. People who work thousands of miles apart build with and upon each other’s discoveries.
The communication of science begins with “peer review”, a process of __43__ an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the inspection of other experts. It typically has three stages. The first occurs when a scientists seeks funding - from government agencies, foundations, or other __44__ -- to carry out a research program. He or she must prepare a report describing the intended work, laying out background, hypotheses（假设）, planned experiments, expected results, and even the __45__ impacts on other fields. Committees of other scientists then __46__ the report to see whether the scientist knows his or her area, has the necessary abilities, and is realistic in his or her plans.
Once the scientist has the needed __47__, has done the work, and has written a report of the results, that reports will go to a scientific journal. Before publishing the report, the journal’s editors will show it to other workers in the same or __48__ fields and ask whether the work was done adequately, the conclusion are justified, and the report should be published.
The third stage of peer review happens are publication, when the broader scientific community gets to see and __49__ the work.
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This three-stage quality-control process can, of course, be faulty. Any scientist with independent wealth can __50__ the first stage quite easily but such scientists are much, much rarer today than they were a century or so ago. Those who remain are the object of envy. __51__ , it is fair to say that they are not disapproved as were those who avoid the latter two stages of the “peer review” mechanisms by using press conferences.
On the other hand, it is certainly possible for the standard peer review mechanisms to __52__. By their nature, these mechanisms are more likely to __53__ ideas that are not different from what the reviewers think they already know. Yet the un-traditional or unconventional ideas are not __54__ wrong, as Alfred Wegener proved when he tried to gain __55__ for the idea of continental drift in the early twentieth century. It was not until the 1960s that most geologists accepted his ideas as genuine insights.
41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51.
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purposes innovative accustoming projects stronger Look up funds different substitute reach Similarly
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needs plain subjecting departments broader call for experiments academic undertake skip Therefore
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