2026年上海市七宝中学高三下学期 期中英语试卷

In recent years, few bands ____1____ (capture) global audiences as powerfully as Imagine Dragons. Formed in Las Vegas in 2008, the band quickly became known for its energetic sound that blends pop, rock, and electronic elements. With powerful vocals, emotional lyrics, and explosive live performances, the group has built a huge international fan base. Their songs often explore themes such as self-discovery, resilience, and hope, which resonate strongly ____2____ young listeners around the world.

Many people first discovered the band through hit songs such as Radioactive and Demons. Radioactive features strong beats and dramatic energy, ____3____Demons expresses the emotional side of human nature. Another popular song, Believer, became famous for its powerful rhythm and inspiring message about turning pain into strength. In contrast, Birds stands out for its soft melody and poetic lyrics, creating a gentle yet deeply touching atmosphere that sets it apart from the band’s more intense songs. These songs not only topped music charts but also became anthems for many fans.

The band’s newest musical era centers around their album Loom, ____4____ inspired the global concert series known as the Imagine Dragons: Loom World Tour. This tour showcases the band’s ____5____ (evolve) musical style while maintaining the high-energy atmosphere that fans love. Compared with their earlier tours, the Loom Tour emphasizes immersive stage design, impressive lighting effects, and stronger interaction with the audience.

At a Loom Tour concert, the experience goes far beyond simply listening to music. Lead singer Dan Reynolds often encourages fans ____6____ (sing) along, clap, and move with the rhythm. Giant screens display vivid visuals that match the mood of each song, creating a powerful connection between sound and imagery. ____7____ the music builds, the entire arena often turns into a sea of lights and voices, making the audience feel like an essential part of the performance.

Another remarkable feature of the tour is its emotional depth. While the music is energetic, the band also pauses at times to speak with the audience about mental health, personal struggles, and the importance of supporting one another. These moments remind fans that music ____8____ be both entertaining and meaningful.

Overall, the Loom Tour highlights why Imagine Dragons remain one of ____9____ (influential) modern rock bands. Through passionate performances, innovative stage design, and heartfelt messages, ____10____ the tour creates is an unforgettable experience for fans around the world. For many people, attending a Loom Tour concert is not just a night of music — it is a powerful celebration of energy, emotion, and connection.

Epigenetic (后成的；外遗传的) clocks estimate biological aging based on tiny changes in our DNA. These clocks look at specific sites in our DNA ____11____ gene expression and change naturally as we get older, helping track with mortality and the pace of aging.

“There is a lot of interest today in ____12____ ways to not just live longer, but to live better,” said Dr. Howard Sesso, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “It was exciting to see benefits of a multivitamin ____13____ accessible, safe ____14____ with markers of biological aging. This study opens the door to learning more about that contribute to healthier, higher-quality aging.”

For their research, Dr. Sesso and his colleagues used data from the well-established Cocoa Supplement Multivitamins Outcomes Study (COSMOS). They analyzed DNA methylation data from blood samples of 98 randomly selected healthy participants with a(n) ____15____ chronological age of 70.

The participants were ____16____ to take a daily cocoa extract and multivitamin; daily cocoa extract and placebo; placebo and multivitamin; or placebos only. Samples were analyzed for changes in five epigenetic clocks from the start of the ____17____ and at the end of the first and second years. Compared to the placebo only group, people in the multivitamin group had slowing in all five epigenetic clocks, including ____18____ clocks that are predictive of mortality.

The changes equated to about four months less biological aging over the course of two years. Additionally, people who were ____19____ older than their actual age at the start of the trial benefited the most.

“We plan to do follow-up research to determine if the slowing of biological aging — observed through these five epigenetic clocks, and additional or new ones — persists after the trial ends,” said Dr. Yanbin Dong, a researcher at Augusta University.

“A lot of people take a multivitamin without necessarily knowing any benefits from taking it, so the more we can learn about its potential health benefits, the better,” Dr. Sesso added. “Within COSMOS, we are fortunate and excited to build upon a rich resource of biomarker data to test how two interventions may improve biological aging and reduce age-related ____20____ outcomes.”

Since being diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder as a teenager, I’ve turned to medication, talking therapy, and exercise to alleviate my symptoms. Still, I often find it hard to “switch off”, and stop ____21____ thoughts.

But, recently, I discovered a new tool to slice through my anxiety. In a collage (拼贴画) workshop, I cut images from magazines, and pasted them on to paper. Playing around with pictures, scissors, and glue, I was transported back to more creative childhood days—and experienced a deep sense of ____22____.

____23____ drawing or painting, there’s no certain level of artistic skill required for a collage, while the pressure to make something ‘perfect’ is removed. By remixing readymade visuals, I was able to ____24____ the voice of my inner critic, and feel a different kind of creative freedom.

Alongside the simple joy of cutting and arranging images, I learned that the final ____25____ can be meaningful, too. According to artist and teacher Hazel Pit, we mentally store certain past images in our minds—and collage allows us to access them. “With its endless possibilities, collage really is an ideal tool for accessing the unconscious mind, and expressing yourself,” she says.

Hazel’s students have been surprised by the emotions reflected back to them in their compositions. As she explains: “Collage can act as a ____26____ conduit (渠道，通道) for the inner self,” and anyone can experience its benefits by following these steps.

Grab your toolsGather visually-rich materials, including magazines and newspapers, leaflets, old books, vintage postcards, and photographs. Searching for forgotten pictures can ____27____ new ideas and emotional revelations. You will also need glue and a pair of ____28____. For the background, choose paper or card that suits your personal style, from a piece of white A5 to a leftover delivery box. Work with what you have!

Follow your intuitionPick out your images ____29____. “Don’t overthink it, or hold the end product in mind,” says Hazel. Drawing on psychotherapist Carl Jung’s theories about images as metaphors in healing, she advises: “Only choose something that resonates with you, sparking an emotional reaction, as this will give your collage substance.”

You might be ____30____ to certain colours, textures, or details, as well as figures, words, or scenes. At this stage, tear out the pages which feature appealing pictures, and place them in a pile.

Cut, slice, and tearCut out your chosen images or experiment with tearing with your hands for rougher edges. This repetitive act requires concentration and is soothing. “Cutting will put you in a meditative space,” says Hazel, “as you stop thinking about ____31____ issues and exist in the present moment.”

Play around with picturesArrange, rearrange, and layer your images, testing different combinations. Without constraints, allow your intuition to guide you. This is the most expressive part of the process, so embrace it.

Pin and pasteOnce you’re happy with the arrangement, glue it down. Small pins can also help keep your composition in ____32____.

Reflect on your collageFinally, take time to reflect upon your collage. Does the choice and arrangement of pictures hold ____33____? Days later, it may speak to you about feelings or thoughts that you didn’t realize were bubbling beneath the surface.

Generally speaking, collage requires no special ____34____ skill. The pressure to make something “perfect” gradually disappears. Studies suggest that creative activities like collage can reduce anxiety and strengthen one’s sense of ____35____.

France, which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for woman. Its lawmakers gave preliminary approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra-thin models on runways. The parliament also agreed to ban websites that “incite excessive thinness” by promoting extreme dieting.

Such measures have a couple of uplifting motives. They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up impinging on health. That’s a start. And the ban on ultra-thin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starving themselves to death — as some have done. It tells the fashion industry that it must take responsibility for the signal it sends women, especially teenage girls, about the social tape-measure they must use to determine their individual worth.

The bans, if fully enforced, would suggest to woman (and many men) that they should not let others be arbiters of their beauty. And perhaps faintly, they hint that people should look to intangible qualities like character and intellect rather than dieting their way to size zero or wasp-waist physiques.

The French measures, however, rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep-and bone-showing. Under the law, using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mass could result in a $85,000 fine and six months in prison.

The fashion industry knows it has an inherent problem in focusing on material adornment and idealized body types. In Denmark, the United States, and a few other countries, it is trying to set voluntary standard for models and fashion images that rely more on peer pressure for enforcement.

In contrast to France’s actions, Denmark’s fashion industry agreed last month on rules and sanctions regarding the age, health, and other characteristics of models. The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical Charter clearly states: “We are aware of and take responsibility for the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals, especially on young people.” The charter’s main tool of enforcement is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen. Fashion Week, which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute. But in general it relies on a name-and-shame method of compliance.

Relying on ethical persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step. Even better would be to help elevate notions of beauty beyond the material standards of a particular industry.

When travelling on Air Canada, the size and number of bags you check is limited by the free checked baggage allowance. If your baggage exceeds this free allowance (too many pieces, too big or too heavy), you will be charged an excess baggage fee.

Excess baggage is accepted subject to space availability. Currency exchange may affect amount to be paid. Applicable taxes are not included in the prices.

Note: Please arrive at the airport at least 60 minutes before departure if checking overweight or oversized baggage. More than one excess fee may be applied. For example, if the item is overweight and oversize, it will be charged twice.

For oversized (more than 115 in / 292 cm) or overweight bags (more than 70lb/32 kg), please contact your Air Canada Cargo Local Sales Office for handling.

Economy Class

* Sizes indicate linear dimensions per bag (length＋width＋depth)

** Excludes Brazil and Japan (Please contact Air Canada Reservations for details on excess fees to these destinations)

You’re walking down a quiet street and suddenly you hear some footsteps. Undoubtedly, it means that there’s someone around. But have you ever wondered why it occurs to us that it’s someone else’s footsteps, not ours?

According to a new study published in the journal Nature in September, this phenomenon arises from a function in our brain to ignore the noise we make ourselves.

In order to explore how our brain does this, a group of scientists carried out an experiment with mice at Duke University. The research entered on an intuition-that we are usually unaware of the sound of our own footsteps-as a vehicle for understanding larger neural phenomena; how this behavior reveals the ability to monitor, recognize, and remember the sound of one’s own movements in relation to those of their larger environments.

In the experiment, research controlled the sounds of a group of mice could hear, reported Science Daily. During the first several days, the mice would hear the same sound each time they took a step. This was just like “running on a tiny piano with each key playing exactly the same note”, senior study author Richard Mooney, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University, told Live Science.

Scientists found that their auditory cortex (听觉皮层) – the area of the brain that processes sound –became active at first but decreased its response to the sound after two or three minutes when the mice became familiar with it.

“It’s almost like they were wearing special headphones that could filter (过滤) out the sound of their own movements.” David Schneider, an assistant professor at the Center for Neutral Science at New York University, told HuffPost.

But once the sound changed, their auditory cortex became active again. This suggests that the “sensory filter” in a mouse’s brain could help it detect new sounds or abnormal noise in the environment easily after tuning out familiar sounds.

“For mice, this is really important,” said Schneider. “They are prey animals, so they really need to be able to listen for a cat creeping up on them, even when they’re walking and making noise.

Being able to ignore the sounds of one’s own movements is likely important for humans as well. But the ability to predict the sounds of our own actions is also important for more complex human behaviors such as speaking or playing an instrument.

“When we learn to speak or to play music, we predict what sounds we are going to hear – such as when we prepare to strike keys on a piano – and we compare this to what we actually hear, “explains Schneider. “We use mismatches between expectation and experience to change how we play – and we get better over time because our brain is trying to minimize these errors.”

Say you’re driving down a two-way street and there’s a truck unloading a delivery in the opposite lane. The oncoming traffic needs to pull out into your lane to overtake.

What do you do?

____47____ Eventually one of us feels charitable and slows down to allow the oncoming car to overtake and give permission with a quick flash of headlights or a beckoning wave.

But what if the car waiting patiently behind the parked truck is a driverless or autonomous vehicle (AV)? Will this robot car be able to understand what you mean when you flash your lights or wave your hands?

Its sensors could decide that it’s only safe to overtake when there’s no oncoming traffic at all. On a busy road at school home time, this may be never, leading to increasingly angry drivers queuing behind. ____48____ This is one of the conclusions to be drawn from research carried out by Dr Chris Tennant of the psychological and behavioural science department at the London School of Economics.

His Europe-wide survey finds that nearly two-thirds of drivers think machines won’t have enough common sense to interact with human drivers, and more than two-fifths think a robot car would remain stuck behind our assumed parked truck for a long time.

Driving isn’t just about technology and engineering; it’s about human interactions and psychology. The road is a social space. ____49____ “If you view the road as a social space, you will consciously negotiate your journey with other drivers. People who like that negotiation process appear to feel less comfortable engaging with AVs than with human drivers,” says Mr Tennant in his report.

____50____ That skepticism usually diminishes with usage, however.

Spring is a magical time for camping. The world awakens with fresh greenery and vibrant wildlife, offering a unique escape from the daily grind. However, spring weather and terrain also present specific challenges. To ensure a safe and enjoyable trip, choosing the right campsite requires extra consideration.

First and foremost, you must prioritize elevation and drainage. Spring is synonymous with melting snow and increased rainfall, which can turn a picturesque meadow into a mud pit or, worse, a flood zone. Therefore, always avoid low-lying areas, dry riverbeds, and the banks of streams or lakes. Water levels can rise rapidly without warning. Instead, look for elevated, well-drained ground. For example, a slight slope is ideal, as it allows water to run off, keeping your tent floor dry.

Shelter from the elements is also critical. Spring weather is notoriously fickle, capable of shifting from warm sunshine to cold winds or sudden showers in minutes. When scouting a location, look for natural windbreaks such as dense groves of trees or large rock formations. These will shield you from biting winds. At the same time, practice your “look up” routine: inspect trees for “widowmakers” — dead branches that can be dislodged by spring storms — and avoid camping directly under them.

Finally, consider the balance between sun and shade. In early spring, nights can still be bitterly cold. Choosing a spot that will receive the first rays of morning sunlight can help warm your tent quickly. Conversely, as the day warms up, some shade will keep your camp comfortable and prevent food from spoiling too quickly in the fluctuating temperatures.

Selecting a campsite in spring is an exercise in preparation and observation. This careful selection allows you to fully immerse yourself in the season’s beauty — the budding leaves, the rushing streams, and the crisp, fresh air — making for an unforgettable spring adventure.

52. 经过热烈的讨论，大家一致认为是他开创了这一先河。(credit)（汉译英）

53. 消息传来在告别会上所有在场的同学和老师都畅所欲言。(Word)（汉译英）

54. 虽然啤酒的库存即将售罄，但是该团队正在致力于准备更多类似的产品。(work)（汉译英）

55. 显然，知道灾害发生的可能性比50年前增加了多少倍可促使新的公共卫生政策出台。(how)（汉译英）

假如你是明启中学高三学生李明，看到学校英文报上的 TROUBLESHOOTER (“排忧解难”) 专栏 Lynn 发的一封信，你通过该英文报回复 Lynn，给她提供建议，帮助她改变父母的想法。你的信必须包括：

1. 你的建议；

2. 你的理由。