1 . Have you read The Tale of Peter Rabbit? It’s a very famous children’s book, written by Beatrix Potter.

Beatrix was born in 1866. She and her brother kept many small animals as pets — rabbits, mice, frogs and even bats! They both liked to draw their pets, but Beatrix liked drawing animals from her own imagination most. She also loved enjoying and drawing nature when they visited beautiful places like Scotland and the Lake District.

To make some money, Beatrix started drawing cards with animals. She liked writing and illustrating (图解) letters too. One day, she wrote a letter to her friend’s son, and told the story of Peter Rabbit. She decided to make the story into a book. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902, and it was a great success! She wrote, illustrated and published many more books. She also created dolls, painting books, games and other things according to her characters.

Three years after The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published, Beatrix bought a farm in the Lake District. She learned about farming and bought more farms and land to help protect the landscape. She enjoyed country life very much, and was very active in protecting the environment.

When Beatrix died, she left almost all her farms and land to the National Trust, an organization which protects historic places and landscapes. You can even visit Hill Top Farm today, which is exactly like it was when Beatrix lived there!

So if you haven’t read The Tale of Peter Rabbit, or other Beatrix Potter’s books, why not visit your local library or bookshop today?

1. What inspired Beatrix Potter to write “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”?

A．Her love for farming.	B．A letter to a friend’s son.
C．Her interest in the environment.	D．A visit to the Lake District.

2. What did Beatrix Potter do besides writing books?

A．She taught art classes.	B．She created dolls and games.
C．She worked for the National Trust.	D．She became a professional farmer.

3. How did Beatrix Potter contribute to environmental protection?

A．By writing books about it.	B．By delivering speeches.
C．By donating money.	D．By buying farms and land.

4. What happened to Beatrix Potter’s farms and land after she died?

A．They were sold to private investors.	B．They were left to the National Trust.
C．They were turned into public parks.	D．They were used for agricultural research.

3 . A woman in a cap wanders calmly along. Except for the lava (熔岩) erupting behind her, she could be walking in the park. The woman turns to watch the molten rock flow for a moment then walks calmly toward the camera. The footage(镜头) is from Werner Herzog’s book to volcanoes and volcano hunters, Into the Inferno, and the woman pictured is perhaps one of the most important volcanologists of all time, Katia Krafft.

Born in France, in 1942, Katia developed an interest in volcanoes at an early age. Later, she met Maurice Krafft. The pair bonded over their shared love of volcanoes before marrying in 1970. The Kraffts wrote about 20 books on volcanoes across the globe.

Katia and her husband made great progress in educating the general public in volcanology. Their footage had more than scientific value. For instance, when Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines began to show signs of an eruption in 1991, the Kraffts were able to present Philippine President Cory Aquino with video footage of the effects of the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, asking him to call for an evacuation of those in the danger zone.

In 1969, Katia was awarded the prize of the Vocation Foundation for her work on active volcanic sites.

The couple lost their lives, along with more than 40 others during the eruption of Mount Unzen in Japan on June 3.1991. when they were caught in a flow of rock, gas and ash moving at speeds of over 100 miles per hour, with temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Katia was 49; Maurice, 45.

Katia’s impact on volcanology has reached far beyond her death and has encouraged many young women to study our restless planet. “Katia Krafft is definitely the reason why I’m doing this job,” says Carla Tiraboschi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minster, Germany. Carla first saw Katia in a documentary when she was just six or seven years old and has been crazy about volcanoes ever since.

1. What can we infer from the book Into the Inferno?

A．Its author is Katia Krafft.	B．It’s a biography of Katia Krafft.
C．It calls on protecting the environment.	D．It focuses on volcanoes and their explorers.

2. What do we know about the couple?

A．They prevented a natural disaster.

B．They served as a warning in Japan.

C．They helped spread volcano science.

D．They covered Mount Pinatubo’s eruption.

3. Which can replace the underlined word “evacuation” in paragraph 3?

A．Substance.

B．Departure.

C．Occupation.

D．Intervention.

4. How did Katia influence Carla Tiraboschi?

A．Katia’s death made her restless.	B．Katia helped her with her research.
C．Katia taught her to make a documentary.	D．Katia’s deeds inspired her career choice.

5 . After a very long battle with cancer, Steve Jobs died at the age of 56. Millions of people worldwide were in deep sorrow for his death. His Apple products, like Michael Jackson’s songs, touched people’s hearts and changed their lives.

Jobs was not an inventor, but he was an innovator (创新者), and a businessman. Based on others’ technology, he designed products of great style for easy use. And he made Apple products seem cool! The iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad were always the coolest products on the market.

Steve Jobs was also a good example of “The American Dream”. He came from humble (低下的) beginnings. He had been an adopted child in a working class family. He dropped out of college early and started Apple in his garage. But his success was soon followed by bad luck.

Jobs was fired as CEO of the company in 1985, but that setback did not stop him. Jobs built a new computer company and also started Pixar. Later, when Apple was in trouble, Jobs was brought back to save the company — and he did it!

Jobs is a great role model for young people. He had a dream and he took chances (even foolish chances, he admitted) to achieve that dream. He suffered setbacks in business, but he didn’t give up his dream. In the end, he left some inspiring words for young innovators: “Stay hungry, stay foolish!”

1. Steve Jobs was ________ .

A．a great inventor	B．a successful businessman
C．a creative designer	D．both B and C

2. Where did Jobs start Apple?

A．In the garage.

B．In the college.

C．In Pixar.

D．In the market.

3. What does the underlined word “setback” mean in the passage?

A．struggle

B．danger

C．failure

D．mistake

4. By saying “Stay hungry, stay foolish!”, Jobs means that young innovators________.

A．should struggle against difficulties to realize their dreams.

B．should be hungry to realize their dreams.

C．should be foolish to realize their dreams.

D．should be both hungry and foolish to realize their dreams.

7 . 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。

While there are many painters I like, I would have to say that Wu Guanzhong is my personal favourite. There is something about his style that sets him apart from other     1    (paint).

Wu Guanzhong’s painting style can be described     2     a mix of Western and Chinese painting traditions.     3    , his style is very modern; many of his paintings are     4    (strike)simple, but also very elegant.

Wu Guanzhong mastered the use of white space. My favourite painting is this one,     5    (call)Zhou Village, in     6     he used this technique very effectively. Like many of his other works, it’s very stylish. Wu used     7     striking combination of black strokes and white space     8    (depict)traditional Chinese buildings in a water town. There is something beautiful and strange about the whitewashed houses in the painting: they rise up like mountains. Perhaps he wanted to create an     9    (impress)landscape painting to represent a simple small-town scene. The river is in the foreground, and at its centre     10    (be)a small bridge. When you look at the painting, it is as if you were about to cross the bridge and enter another world.

8 . 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。

O. Henry was a celebrated American writer. His writing was vivid and he was good at using different writing skills     1    (make) his stories full of fun. He was a master of creating unexpected endings and usually designed plots     2    (dramatic), and he made some unexpected changes at the end,    3     are quite beyond readers’ expectations.

O. Henry wrote some of his stories    4    (base) on where he had lived. For example, he lived in New York, North Carolina and Texas which all provided great     5    (inspire) for his stories. In 1902, O. Henry moved to New York, where he really began to flourish as an author. He wrote some of his most well-known pieces    6       (live) there.

O. Henry often used irony in his writings. His ironic writing style can be described as subtle yet surprising, since the irony usually happened at the end and all at once. He used     7    (remark) ways of writing to put a somewhat sick, funny twist (转折) on crime, poverty and many subjects he wrote about. He took     8     he knew from his life to write stories that could make people laugh and feel speechless. O. Henry’s life had a major impact     9     his point of view, thus adding to the moral truth of his stories. In conclusion, O. Henry’s ironic writing style       10    (influence) by his own life.

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Who is the speaker?

A．A boxing coach.

B．A history teacher.

C．A program host.

2. When did the speaker first hear about Muhammad Ali?

A．In 1942.

B．In 1964.

C．In 1981.

3. What inspired the speaker about Muhammad Ali?

A．His skills.

B．His passion.

C．His confidence

4. What did Muhammad Ali do after retiring from boxing?

A．He tried to promote peace in the world.

B．He traveled to different countries.

C．He became a boxing coach.

10 . Just a few days after his 18th birthday, Beijing 2022 gold medal winner Su Yiming received a surprise gift—a letter from Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China.

In the letter Xi expressed his congratulations to Su and other sportsmen in ice and snow sports for their great achievements at the Beijing Winter Olympics, hoping what they had achieved would encourage young Chinese to aim (立目标) high.

When Su first stepped onto a snowboard at the age of four, a future as a world-classs portsman seemed to be “a dream too big” for him. Little did he know that he would not only compete for his country but also take home gold. With the great excitement of winning an Olympic gold medal still fresh in his mind, Su wrote a letter to the president, telling him how lucky he felt to have made his dream come true.

Su still remembers what Xi wrote in the reply, “The new era is the time for young people to realize their dreams.”

“I have always kept those words in my mind,” Su said.

“ When I made up my mind to be a professional snowboarder, I know there is a big gap between my performance and that of the top sportsmen in the world. But I have been working hard to realize my dream. Now my story shows the fact that hard work will pay off.” Su said.

Su believes the sky is the limit. “Find the thing you love, believe in yourself and do yourvery best. Finally, your dream will come true.”

Now Su has his strong wish to win all the competitions in his sporting field.

1. What was the surprise gift Su Yiming got after his birthday?

A．A gold medal.	B．A letter.
C．A birthday cake.	D．A snowboard.

2. Su wrote a letter to the president to ______.

A．express his excitement of realizing his dream

B．invite young Chinese to try snow sports.

C．encourage young Chinese to make big plans

D．congratulate Chinese sportsmen on their achievements

3. The underlined word “gap” in Paragraph 6 probably means ______.

A．agreement	B．fight
C．relationship	D．difference

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．Ice and snow sports	B．Aim high and win big
C．The secret to success	D．Fight for a bright future