安徽省合肥市第一中学2023-2024学年高一下学期期中联考英语试题一、阅读理解With so many options for short, beautiful walks in Queenstown, you are truly spoiled for choice. Here’s a list of local picks that will help you discover the best walks around Queenstown, a walkers’ paradise, for every age and ability.Tiki TrailFor one of the best views of Queenstown and a decent workout, climb the Tiki Trail up to the Skyline Gondola building. Starting at the base of the Gondola, the Tiki Trail winds its way steeply through trees towards the lookout at the top.Choose to hike back to Queenstown. Or if the climb has gotten the better of you, sit back, relax and catch a ride in the Skyline Gondola.Queenstown GardensThe Queenstown Gardens Trail is a wheelchair-accessible trail just a few minutes from central Queenstown. The flat, easy track has spectacular views of Lake Whakatipu, Cecil Peak, and Walter Peak and the manicured gardens are beautiful year-round.You could spend hours here exploring the rose gardens or playing disc golf. If you’re tight on time, the loop around the shore of Lake Whakatipu takes less than an hour to complete.Arrow River TrailStarting in historic Arrowtown, a walk along the Arrow River Trail is a must-do for any visitor to Queenstown.The track will have you filling your camera memory, especially in autumn due to the explosion of colours on the trees. From here, you can cross the bridge and walk back along the riverside or go back the way you came. Back in Arrowtown, it’s lovely to walk along the river and amongst the trees before rejoining Arrowtown’s quaint streets to admire the café culture, discover the region’s history or grab a pint in the sunshine.Ben Lomond TrackBen Lomond will greet you from the moment you arrive in town. Not for the faint-heartedor inexperienced, this demanding climb is a full-day mission with a spectacular reward.Walkers aiming for the summit should be fully equipped and allow six to eight hours, depending on the conditions. Be prepared for snow and ice above the bush line from April to November.1．Which place is a better choice for the disabled?A．Tiki Trail.B．Arrow River Trail.C．Queenstown Gardens.D．Ben Lomond Track.2．What can visitors do in Arrow River Trail?A．Appreciate the rose fragrance.B．Experience demanding climb.C．Have a bird-eye view of Queenstown.D．Learn about the local history.3．What is the purpose of the passage?A．To compare things.B．To inform readers.C．To uncover the unseen.D．To warn readers.We find the owl at the very edge of our woods the morning after the storm. Wings flight-frozen and round eyes glassy. I touch its feathers lightly with my fingertip and I’m surprised because they still feel real even though the owl has slipped away somewhere else and Dad is already digging a hole for it in the rain-soaked earth.I lift its body and it’s huge in my hands but the hollow bones do most of the work for me and I almost think the owl might shake the stiffness from its feathers and fly away. I really don’t think this one should go into a hole in the ground. I say that to Dad and he says that it’s the circle of life and that now the owl will become part of nature again. Feeding the soil with its flesh and growing the roots of plants from its feathers.Dad shifts the last of the dirt with his spade and sits down at the base of a tree with a huff of air that smokes around him. I put the bird in the hole and mark it with a smooth pebble so I’ll always know.After we’ve buried the owl, we walk all around the woods and clear the worst of the damage from the winds and the rain. The damage isn’t as bad as it’s been before and it feels like the storm has cleaned everything back to being new and fresh. I use my hawk eyes and search the ground in flicks and sweeps and I find treasures in the rain-raked earth just like always. Pieces ofpottery and something that could be a Roman coin. I slip them into my pocket and they bump against each other to tell their stories to me, but I’ll listen later.I help Dad load the best of the fallen branches on to the trailer so we can cut them for fire wood or maybe a bonfire, and then we drive over the muddy paths and back to our house. 4．What do we know about the owl when the author finds it?A．It is already dead.B．It is hidden in a hole.C．It is too stiff to fly away.D．It is trying to flee the woods.5．Why does the author mark the hole with a pebble?A．To facilitate future visits.B．To show sympathy for the owl.C．To keep the site clear of plants.D．To draw the attention of passers-by. 6．What message does the author want to convey by mentioning the owl?A．Storms make trees take deeper roots.B．In nature’s embrace, time stands still.C．The darkest hour has only sixty minutes.D．With every leaf’s fall, a new life emerges. 7．What does “I’ll listen later” in paragraph 4 reveal about the author?A．Money-driven.B．Wonder-seeking.C．Artistically talented.D．Emotionally mature.Artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed to operate at human levels have greatly expanded in popularity over the past year. These include OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s AI-powered search engine Bing. Such tools, also known as chatbots or generative AI, are computer-powered systems. They are designed to interact smoothly with humans and perform high-level writing and creative work.In recent months, these tools have demonstrated an ability to produce high-quality work. This has led some technology experts to warn that generative AI systems could end up replacing workers in many industries.This year, researchers at Harvard Business School and other organizations carried out an experiment. It aimed to test how well AI tools could help workers perform their usual duties or tasks. It involved more than 700 business advisors, called consultants, from Massachusetts-based Boston Consulting Group.Harvard Business School recently published the results from the experiment in a working paper. The main findings suggest that AI tools like ChatGPT can greatly improve workerperformance. For example, researchers found that, on average, workers who used OpenAI’s latest ChatGPT 4 tool completed 12 percent more tasks than non-ChatGPT users. Tasks carried out with help from the AI technology were completed 25 percent faster. And the team found the quality of work performed by consultants using ChatGPT 4 increased by about 40 percent.However, the paper also noted areas where the performance of consultants using ChatGPT 4 dropped. The researchers said this was especially true with tasks the AI tool was not good at completing. “Of tasks the AI was good at, the experiment showed it significantly improved human performance,” the paper said. “But for tasks ChatGPT 4 was not right for, humans relied too much on the AI and were more likely to make mistakes.”The team suggests one of the biggest barriers to companies effectively using AI is not knowing which tasks can be completed best with the technology. Finding this out will require businesses to carry out thoughtful research and training efforts in order to find the right mix of AI and human-level work.8．What is a purpose of designing AI tools according to the text?A．To perform low-level writing.B．To replace technology experts.C．To finish high-quality work.D．To improve interpersonal communication. 9．Why does the author mention ChatGPT 4 in paragraph 4?A．To explain the disadvantages of AI tools.B．To show how well AI tools could help workers.C．To forecast changes in the future working environment.D．To compare the work performance between humans and AI tools.10．What can be learned from the last paragraph?A．Companies need to balance the work of AI and humans.B．It is useless to train so many workers to learn to use AI.C．It is easy to find the right mix of AI and human-level work.D．Research on using AI effectively has been made by businesses.11．What is the best title for the text?A．ChatGPT Can See, Hear and Speak NowB．Ways to Improve Your Performance at WorkC．The Fast Development of Artificial IntelligenceD．AI Tools Help but also Harm Worker PerformanceBred to be sweeter, today’s cherries, bananas and apples taste different than they used to but not necessarily better. Among fruit farmers, the word “quality” is now routinely used as a standard for “high in sugar”, though firmness, color and size are also considerations. In a recent study about ways to enhance the sweetness of fruit using “molecular (分子的) approaches”, a group of plant scientists wrote that, in general, the sugar content of many fruits are now higher than before owing to continuous selection and breeding. Modern apple varieties, the scientists stressed, were on average sweeter than older ones.The sweetness of fruit depends not just on how it is bred but also on growing conditions, yield and harvest. The lead researcher, Sugiura, said, “If you could taste an apple harvested 30 years ago, you would feel the difference.” He believed that modern apples are picked so early that even if they are bred for sweetness, they often don’t develop their full character. The fragrance never develops in fruit that is harvested too early.Jim Cooper, an apple farmer in England, is regretful to admit the fact that many people will never taste the “strawberry hint” in a really ripe Pearmain, a type of heritage apple. In a way, the rise of consistently sweeter fruit in our lifetimes has been a victory of plant breeding. After all, it’s a rare person who would seek out bitter grapes if they could have sweet ones instead.But the sweetness of modern fruit is not without its problems, especially for people with diabetes (糖尿病), who have to reduce their intake of higher-sugar fruits. Fruit that is bred sweeter also tends to be lower in the chemicals that make it healthy. Considering health, maybe the real problem with modern fruit is that it has become yet another sweet thing in a world with sugar. Even grapefruits, which used to be quite bitter, are sometimes now as sweet as oranges. If you’ve never tasted a sour cherry, how can you fully appreciate a sweet one?12．In what aspect is many fruits different from before?A．Bright color.B．Soft skin.C．Sugar content.D．High yield. 13．Why did Sugiura express discontent with the present fruits?A．They are bred too early.B．They are losing a good flavor.C．They taste so sweet.D．They need a higher yield.14．What is Cooper’s attitude towards modern fruit breeding?A．Critical.B．Ambiguous.C．Favorable.D．Uncaring. 15．What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?A．The sweetness of fruits will cause health issues.B．It’s a wise choice to breed fruits for sweetness.C．Breeding sweet fruits improves the quality of fruits.D．Some fruits like grapes and cherries taste the same.The online mapping is a way to use maps available online to provide a number of functions that traditional maps have provided for years. 16 Meanwhile, there are other types of maps available as well, such as nautical maps (航海地图).One advantage of the online mapping is the ability to custom-make a map for an individual based on particular needs. 17 Thus, the map is much more than a graph of roads; it is a custom-made printing specifically based on a desired route.In addition, the online mapping also usually includes text directions that can help provide yet another affirmation (确认) of the route. These text directions are often displayed in conjunction with any map that is shown and is printable. 18Traditional maps may only be updated once a year just before they are published. 19 It can be updated in real time. A map can indeed be update d on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, but it does not necessarily mean that it will be. Even the most thorough mapping services may not be able to keep up with all the construction projects and changes on any given day.20 . Some maps may only show the route the driver should take, without other streets being listed. Also, there is no way for an online mapping service to inform travelers if they do wander off the route prescribed.A．It depends on how often they are updated.B．However, the online mapping has no such limitations.C．There are some disadvantages of using the online mapping.D．The most common application is probably the road mapping.E．Some of them fail to provide accurate maps and directions.F．This can help a traveler remove all unnecessary information.G．So it’s convenient for those who need to take their maps with them.二、完形填空My long-distance cycling career of 13 years and 35, 000 kilometres ended as I approached 75. Although I am now no longer strong enough to 21 the long days and big climbs, day in and day out, I have my memories.The road behind is just memories, some soon to be forgotten, others to be 22 and enhanced with the retelling. A 6000-kilometre cross-country ride initially appears 23 , but, once done, it is simply done, much like the challenges that life 24 .Real 25 would come when I was alone on my bicycle. I enjoyed meeting and even 26 the daily targets I had set for myself. I enjoyed the technical challenges faced by tire bursts and loose handlebars, but 27 not at that time. I loved cycling with a strong tailwind pushing me along and hated 28 into a strong headwind. I loved striking up conversations with a diversity of people and sincerely appreciated the support and comfort they 29 .Long distance cycling brings unbearable exhaustion, long hours of anxiety, even fear and desperation, but these 30 into insignificance, compared to the joy and 31 of climbing huge mountains or seeing fantastic sights for the first time. The experiences add newness and 32 to my life and the memories are 33 .Most importantly, cycling taught me to know myself better. It eventually dawned on me that I had more 34 and courage than I ever imagined. The self-awareness and long-lasting memories will give me enormous 35 as I carry on my life journey. 21．A．appreciate B．choose C．expect D．stand 22．A．treasured B．explored C．created D．discussed 23．A．boring B．annoying C．confusing D．discouraging 24．A．overcomes B．greets C．throws D．ignores 25．A．loneliness B．joy C．convenience D．panic 26．A．making B．changing C．beating D．finalizing 27．A．reasonably B．admittedly C．fortunately D．hopefully 28．A．battling B．slipping C．falling D．wandering 29．A．owned B．offered C．mentioned D．promised30．A．fit B．pale C．run D．back 31．A．reflection B．anticipation C．satisfaction D．motivation 32．A．secrets B．rules C．decisions D．dimensions 33．A．reliable B．flexible C．inaccessible D．unforgettable 34．A．toughness B．curiosity C．imagination D．wisdom 35．A．insight B．knowledge C．power D．admiration三、语法填空阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
