5 . Hawking was one of the most famous scientists in the world. But humor was always a big part of Hawking’s effort to bring physics to the masses. In his 2010 book, The Grand Design, for instance, he describes how, in 1277, the religious government declared scientific laws such as gravity to be wrong, since they seemed against their belief. “ Interestingly,” the text adds in a humorous way, “ the religious leader was killed by the effects of the law of gravity a few months later when the roof of his palace fell in on him. ”

Hawking was only 21 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — ALS (肌萎缩侧索硬化). For most people, the condition would have been a disaster. But Hawking rolled over difficulty as if it were just a rock under his wheelchair. “Life would be tragic (悲剧的),” he once said, “ if it weren’t funny. ”

So Hawking made jokes. There was the time when talk show host John Oliver asked him about parallel (平行的) universes. “ Does that mean there is a universe out there where I am smarter than you?” Oliver joked. Hawking’s dry reply: “ Yes. And also a universe where you’re funny.” Hawking liked physical humor too. He reportedly enjoyed wheeling his chair over the feet of people who annoyed him, including Prince Charles. “ A malicious (恶意的) rumor,” Hawking said. “ I’ll run over anyone who repeats it. ”

Hawking’s greatest hit, humor-wise, was probably the cocktail party he held in 2009. It was a “welcome reception for future time travelers,” he said, so naturally he sent out the invitations the day after the party. No one showed up yet. “ Maybe one day someone living in the future will find the information and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party,” Hawking explained. After all, he never missed a chance to have fun.

1. Why did Hawking mention the death of the religious leader in his book The Grand Design?

A．To enhance the credibility of his book.

B．To show the result of going against science.

C．To illustrate the law of gravity humorously.

D．To question the power of the religious government.

2. What’s Hawking’s attitude towards his bad luck in life?

A．Indifferent.

B．Positive.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Confused.

3. Why did nobody show up at the cocktail party held by Hawking?

A．People showed no interest in time travel.

B．The party was in fact a joke by Hawking.

C．There was no such thing as a time traveler.

D．The wormhole time machine wasn’t there yet.

4. What can be the best title of this text?

A．The Humorous Side of Hawking	B．Great Achievements of Hawking
C．A Party with No One Attending	D．The Personal Life of Hawking

6 . Akira Toriyama, one of Japan’s leading comics authors, whose manga (漫画) “Dragon Ball” achieved worldwide success with its mix of comedic characters and electrifying martial arts battles, died on March 1. Mr. Toriyama’s body of work, which also includes “Dr. Slump” and “Sand Land,” has influenced generations of manga artists and cartoonists.

His best-known work, “Dragon Ball,” follows a young boy named Son Goku who embarks on a journey to collect the seven magical balls that summon a wish-granting dragon. Since its creation in. the 1980s, it has sold millions of copies worldwide and become one of the most famous manga.

Throughout his career, Mr. Toriyama said in a 2013 interview with the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, he did not care if his work did anything besides entertaining its readers. He was, he suggested, unlike “other manga artists concerned about conveying educational messages.” “The role of my manga,” he said, “is to be a work of entertainment through and through.”

When “Dragon Ball” was first published in 1984, it was an immediate hit. “Dragon Ball” was serialized in the Japanese magazine Weekly Shonen Jump until 1995. In the year after the series ended, the magazine lost about one million of its six million readers.

As a productive manga artist, Mr. Toriyama did not necessarily have an appetite for the genre as a reader. “I have always had a hard time reading manga, including my own work,” he said in a 2018 interview. He led a private life and gave few interviews. In a 2013 interview with the Japanese singer and actress Shoko Nakagawa, he said that he did not even share all his work with his family.

“To tell you the truth, no one in my family has ever seen ‘Dragon Ball,’” he said, laughing. “I am also a hikikomori,” he added, using the Japanese word for a loner.

1. According to Akira Toriyama, what role does his manga primarily serve?

A．A tool for education.	B．A window to culture.
C．A form of entertainment.	D．An insight into tradition.

2. What can you infer from the underlined sentence?

A．Manga was not popular among readers any more.

B．The magazine faced the crisis of ceasing publication.

C．Readers preferred other manga series to “Dragon Ball”.

D．“Dragon Ball” had a great impact on the magazine’s popularity.

3. According to the passage, Akira Toriyama is a person with ________.

A．outgoing personality	B．a strong sense of privacy
C．passion for reading manga	D．deep interest in entertainment

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．“Dragon Ball”: Manga’s Future Model

B．The Art of Manga: Techniques and Tips

C．Akira Toriyama: A Manga Legend’s Journey

D．The Legacy of “Dragon Ball”: Beyond the Manga

7 . 语法填空

Shi Jing, also called the Book of Songs, is the oldest existing     1     (collect) of Chinese poetry. When Chinese musician Fang Jinlong read Shi Jing, he was interested in the stories in the poems. Because he couldn't     2     (full) understand the ancient Chinese language     3     (use) in the poems, he turned to experts to explore the poems.

Then he decided to portray the poems with musical language by inviting composer Ma Jiuyue     4     (create) an album. Titled Music and the Book of Songs, the album was released on Jan. 18, 2021,     5     (feature) 10 original songs composed by Ma. They     6     (perform) by Fang and won great popularity.

The 10 songs are based     7     10 poems from Shi Jing, including Qiong Yao, which conveys gratitude to people who are eager to help others, and Swallows, which sends farewell messages to friends.

“Young people gave warm feedback about traditional Chinese music     8     they had watched my performance. It has inspired me to create more works for them, which helps popularize traditional Chinese music,” says Fang.

“The 10 pieces sound     9     (enjoy) and easy. For the listeners, it's a fresh way to comprehend poems from Shi Jing,” says Ma. “We spent three years working on     10     project. There are so many meanings in the poems and we want to display them as deep as possible with music," Ma says. "It's our mutual goal to have traditional Chinese music reach a wider audience.”

8 . What are the speakers talking about?

A．History.

B．Nationalities.

C．National heroes.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Victor Hugo once said, “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. “Up to now, nobody     1    (be) able to create laughter like Charlie Chaplin. He brightened the lives of millions through two world wars     2     the hard years in between. He made people laugh at a time when they felt depressed, so they could forget their difficulties.

Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889. His parents were music hall     3    (performer), and he first appeared on the stage in     4     dance show at the age of eight. He was taught to sing as soon as he could speak and dance. Such training was common in acting families at that time,     5    (especial) when the family income was often uncertain. Unfortunately, his father died,     6    (leave) the family even worse off, so Charlie spent his childhood looking after his sick mother and his brother. By his teens, Charlie had, through his humor, gained great     7    (popular) in England. He could mime and act the fool doing ordinary everyday tasks. No one was ever bored     8     watching him – his subtle(细微的) acting made everything entertaining.

Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, and produced the films he starred in. In 1972, he     9    (award) a special Academy Honor, for his contributions to the film industry. He lived in England and the USA, but spent his last years in Switzerland,     10     he died in 1977. He is loved and remembered as a great actor who inspired people during dark times.