68 However, in 2015 NASA’s Kepler space telescope found its first Earth-sized planet in a “habitable” zone. This is the distance from a star where surface temperatures of a planet wouldn’t be too hot or too cold for liquid water. So far, only a small slice of our galaxy, the Milky Way, has been explored. Even so, scientists have confirmed over 3,500 exoplanets, with more being added every day.

To detect exoplanets, scientists use data from a variety of sources. Larne ground-based telescopes, earth-circling and sun-circling satellites all collect different types of information. Because exoplanets are so far away and very close to stars, it is very difficult to see them directly. 69 For example, when an exoplanet moves between its star and us, it causes a small drop in the star’s brightness. Measuring this drop is the transit(凌日) method of discovery. NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered many exoplanets this way.

As a planet circles a star, it pulls on it and causes it to shake. 70 Measuring these slight changes is the radial velocity(径向速度) method of discovering planets. It is one of the most productive methods for finding and confirming exoplanets.

These are just two examples of the many methods scientists use in their hunt for exoplanets, hoping for more information and enhanced detail. As time progresses and technology improves, who knows what else we may find!

IV. Summary Writing

Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Hope

Nothing in my life had prepared me for what I had to do. Choosing my words carefully, and fighting to stay calm, I told my 4-year-ofd daughter that her grandmother had suffered a stroke(中风), that she was unconscious, and that the doctors said she would probably never wake up. As she moved closer to me. Ameba looked at me, eyes bright, and said, “Maybe Grandma will be okay.” “Maybe she will,” I said, keeping back the tears. But I knew better. I was tying up to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from our Florida home in the morning to say good-bye to my mom.

The rest of that awful week, I joined my brother, and father sitting by my mother’s side in the hospital room. I held her hand and talked to her. I told her that we still needed her. I told her that it wasn’t time to leave yet. I told her how much I loved her. And I told her that her little granddaughter, Amelia, believed that she’d get better. The doctors, with all their years of training and experience, offered no hope for recovery. The damage was simply too extensive.

A couple of weeks later, an odd thing happened. Mom woke up! And then she persevered through a long and tough process of restoration to health. during which she had to learn to walk, read, and write all over again, and eventually returned home to Dad. The only one who wasn’t shocked was Amelia. The doctors couldn’t explain it. Amelia didn’t need to. Hope came as naturally to her as breathing.

So why are we so afraid to hope sometimes? Maybe it’s because over the years, life’s disappointments can turn us to disillusionment(理想破灭). How many times have yoheard someone say: “Hope for the best, expect the worst”? That’s not really hope at all.

Hope is being able to look at our world with all of the joy and wonder of a child.

________ _______ _______ _______ _________ ________

________ _______ _______ _______ _________ ________

________ _______ _______ _______ _________ ________

V. Translation

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

72. 演讲前，花点时间看一下提纲，你会更自信。(spend)

73. 两年后这个主题公园将对公众开放，但是它是否会盈利尚未确定。(remain)

74. 诗歌大赛吸引了大批观众，他们从中领略到了汉语的魅力。(which)

75. 不管那个推销员如何极力鼓动，我还是能保持冷静没有买那套位于城东的房子。(No natter)

VI. Guided Writing

Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.

某英文网站正举办征文活动，题目是The Most Useful Skill I Have Ever Learned，请以此写一篇征文。你的文章比须包括：

● 这项技能是什么?你是通过什么方式学会的?

● 举例说明为什么你觉得它最有用。

(注：文中不得出现真实的姓名及学校名称)

全国甲卷高考英语试题及答案

I. Listening Comprehension

1-5 DCABB 6-10 DCDAD 11-13 ABC 14-16 CBB 17-20 ADAC

II. Grammar and Vocabulary

21. hired 22. will open 23. to bring 24. raises 25. when/if

26. healthier 27. which 28. among/from 29. so 30. a

31-35 EKIHG 36-40 JDABC

III. Reading Comprehension

41-45 CAACD 46-50 ABBCD

51-55 DBABC 56-59 CDAC

60-62 BAD 63-66 CDAD 67-70 EBAC

IV. Summary writing

Doctors were pessimistic about my mother’s stroke while my little daughter, Amelia, full of hope. I passed on Amelia’s hope when our family gathered to bid farewell to her in hospital. Incredibly, she recovered and came back home after a period of restoration. Everyone was astonished except Ameba. Hope does bring people in trouble amazement. (55 words)