2023-2024学年辽宁省葫芦岛市长江卫生中等职业技术学校普高班高二下学期期末考试英语试题时间：120分钟满分：150分第一部分听力(共两节，满分30分)（略）第二部分阅读(共两节，满分50分)第一节(共15小题;每小题2.5分，满分37.5分)阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
AThe World’s 4 Best Long-distance HikesSeveral new long-distance, multi-day hikes have been launched that promise visitors unique access to previously inaccessible areas, where natural landscapes and local cultures are found. Juliana TrailSlovenia introduced the Juliana Trail in an attempt to get visitors to stay there longer and visit more. The 270km route begins at the adventure center of Kranjska Gora, near the Italian border, before circling around the Julian Alps past turquoise rivers and glacier-carved lakes. The trail is divided into 16 stages, so you can choose a shorter adventure or tackle the entire trail.Red Sea Mountain TrailMainland Egypt’s first long-distance hiking path, the Red Sea Mountain Trail links a series of ancient trade routes into a single 170km circuit that takes an average of 10 days to complete. Hikes brave enough to set off into this remote wilderness will skirt vast plain, dip into deep gorges and summit barren peaks to visit ruined Roman towns and prehistoric rock art.Paparoa TrackThe 5km Paparoa Track in New Zealand snakes into the rainforests of the South Island near the famous Pancake Rocks. The freshly carved trail typically takes three days on foot, or two days on a mountain bike. Along the way, you pass river gorges and hilltop lookouts with expansive views over the turquoise Tasman Sea.Liechtenstein TrailLiechtenstein celebrated its 300th birthday in 2019 by crafting a 75km walking path wherecitizens and visitors alike could explore three centuries of local history. The Liechtenstein Trail twists over peaks and pastures on a route that takes in 147 sites. The zigzagging north-south route takes about three days to complete.1. Why did Slovenia launch the Juliana Trail?A. To show the beauty of the Italian border.B. To attract tourists to visit Slovenia more.C. To protect the environment of the Julian Alps.D. To promote the development of local economy.2. Which is the shortest trail?A. Juliana Trail.B. Paparoa Track.C. Liechtenstein Trail.D. Red Sea Mountain Trail.3 What is special about LiechtensteinTrail?.A. It offers a window into local history.B. Visitors have access to prehistoric rock art.C. Hikers can ride a mountain bike on the trail.D. It takes visitors through fascinating valleys.BSpiders are master builders, expertly turning silk into complex 3D webs that serve as their home and hunting ground. To gain a deeper understanding of their world, scientists have translated the structure of a spider’s web into music.“The spider lives in an environment of vibrating (振动的) strings,” says Markus Buehler, the project’s principal investigator. “They don’t see very well, so theyperceive their surroundings by detecting vibrations, which have different frequencies.” Such vibrations occur, for example, when the spider stretches a strand of silk during construction or when the wind or a trapped fly moves the web.The researchers scanned a natural spider web to capture 2D cross-sections and reconstructed its 3D network using a mathematical model. They assigned different frequencies of sound to strands of the web, creating musical “notes” that they combined in patterns based on the web’s 3D structure to generate music. Then they made a harp-like (像竖琴的) virtual instrument and played the spider web music in several live performances around theworld, creating an inspiring harmony of art and science.To gain insights into how spiders build webs, the researchers also scanned a web during construction, transforming each stage into music with different sounds. “The spider’s way of ‘printing’ the web is remarkable because no support material is used, as is often needed in current 3D printing methods,” Buehler says. This knowledge could help develop new 3D printers that work like spiders, enabling them to construct complex structures without using additional materials for support.The team is also interested in learning how to communicate with spiders in their own language. They recorded web vibrations produced when spiders performed different activities, such as building a web, communicating with other spiders or sending signals to admirers. “Now we’re trying to generate signals to basically speak the language of the spider,” Buehler says. “If we expose them to certain patterns of vibrations, can we affect what they do or can we begin to communicate with them? Those are really thrilling ideas, and I believe they could be achieved in the near future.”4. What do we know about spiders?A They have good eyesight.B. They adapt to surroundings quickly.C. They spin a web similar to a musical structure.D They sense the environment through vibrations.5. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?A. Steps to create spider web music.B. Ways to recreate a web’s 3D network.C. Challenges of combining music with science.D. The potential applications of 3D printing methods.6. What do the underlined words “This knowledge” in paragraph 4 refer to?A. 3D printers can construct complex structures.B. Spiders’ vibration patterns vary with activities.C. Spiders build webs without using additional materials.D. The web-building process can be translated into music.7. What is Buehler’ attitude towards communicating with spiders?..A. Hopeful.B. Doubtful.C. Uncertain.D. Disapproving.CHigh employment, falling inflation (通货膨胀), and economic growth. On the surface, the US economy currently seems to be doing great. But as it turns out, things are not so rosy for the average American.According to a March 6 survey conducted by the Savings website, 47 percent of US parents provide financial support to their adult children to help deal with the cost of living struggles.Gen Zers (aged 18 — 27) were found to be the most likely generation to get financial help from their parents, receiving on average 1,515 dollars per month. Still, many older parents were found to support their Millennial (aged 28 — 43) or Generation X (aged 44 — 59) adult children, accounting for 21 percent of parents providing support. The most common expenses mentioned were groceries and health insurance.But why are so many US adults, both young and old, struggling to “leave the nest”? One major reason is food prices. According to a survey, food prices are expected to increase by nearly 2.5 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, stable housing remains an elusive dream for many. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage (抵押贷款) was almost 8 percent in 2023, which means many Americans are priced out of affording their own home.The final piece of the puzzle is falling salaries. Previous generations were able to count on graduating from college as the key to landing a job that paid well. But now, young graduates have found they earn less than their parents. College graduate salaries have decreased more than 10 percent in four decades after adjusting for inflation. In other words, steadily declining salaries make it even harder for young Americans to cope with rising costs.As Gen Zers in the US struggle under financial pressures, so do the older generations supporting them, as their sharing puts their retirement at risk. The Savings website discovered that working parents were found to contribute “2.4 times more to support adult children than they contribute to their retirement accounts each month”.Essentially, while the US economy remains afloat, we will witness multiple generations of Americans sinking in their own lifeboats in the years ahead.8. What did the March 6 survey find out about adult children in the US?A. Nearly half of them are financially dependent.B. Over half of Gen Zers are financially struggling.C. 21 percent of Generation X receive parental help.D. A majority of them rely on their parents for education.9. What does the underlined word “elusive” in paragraph 4 most probably mean?A. Readily accessible.B. Difficult to achieve.C. Often misunderstood.D. Commonly sought after.10. What can be inferred from the article about people in the US?A. Graduates’ financial struggles are temporary.B. Government policies favor older generations.C. Salaries for graduates tend to keep up with inflation.D. Financial pressures affect both the young and the old.11. What is the author’s attitude toward the future of Americans?A. Negative.B. Optimistic.C. Ambiguous.D. Indifferent.DHow often have you wondered what the boy sitting across from you on the bus is really thinking? It seems that you will never really know for sure. After all, the content of our thoughts is unperceivable to anyone else.Neuroscience (神经科学) research into how we think and what we’re thinking makes it possible to watch directly into the brain to read out the physical make-up of our thoughts, some would say to read our minds.The technology that is changing what once was impossible in science into just plain science is a specialized use of MRI scanning (扫描) called “functional MRI”, fMRI for short. It makes it possible to see what’s going on inside the brain while people are thinking.What neuroscientist Marcel Just and his colleagues have done is combine fMRI’s ability to look at the brain in action with computer science's new power to sort through massive amounts of data. The goal is to see if they could identify exactly what happens in the brain when people think specific thoughts.They did an experiment where they asked subjects to think about ten objects—five of them tools like scissors or rulers, and live of them buildings like castles or towers. They then recorded and analyzed the activity in the subjects’ brains for each. When we think “ruler” or “tower” for example, Just says neurons start firing at varying levels of intensity (强度) in different areas throughout the brain. “And we found that we could identify whichobject they were thinking about from their brain activation patterns (激活模式) . We're identifying the thought that’s taking place,” he said.IMRI scanning has already been used to try to figure out what we want to buy and how to sell it to us. It’s a new field called “neuromarketing”. One of its pioneers, Gemma Calvert, says it’s a growing field. “What we’ve seen is a sort of snowballing effect over the last few years.”12. Which can best replace the underlined word “unperceivable” in paragraph 1?A. Definite.B. Professional.C. Various.D. Secret.13. What is fMRI used to do?A. Observe your physical activities.B. Introduce plain science to the public.C. Figure out what you are thinking about.D. Find out how your brain is made up of.14. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?A. The process of the experiment.B. The objects used in the experiment.C. The major findings of the research.D. The subjects involved in the research.15. What does Gemma Calvert think of neuromarketing?A. Fruitless.B. Promising.C. Challenging.D. Unpredictable.第二节(共5小题;每小题2.5分，满分12.5分)阅读下面短文，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。
