It can be really hard to learn a language well without living in a country full of native speakers! You have to find something interesting! Here’s the solution: TV Series.

Game of Thrones

You should really start watching it. The language is beautiful and easy to understand. Drama, love and good characters mark the show and there are actors from all around the world. You won’t know what’s going to happen at the ending. This is a must-see!

Sherlock

A British masterpiece. Is there any language learner who has not heard of Sherlock Holmes and his friend John Watson? The writers placed the stories into London in the 21st century, so it’s basically a modern version of the original stories. Here you have everything that an English language learner could wish for: British accents, good acting, long and interesting conversations with a lot of humour.

Friends

Everybody knows Friends, which couldn’t be missed off of this list. With many different accents to be heard and lots of dialects, this is the perfect show for English learners. The plot is relatively simple to understand. Six friends battle with tough jobs, complicated relationships and life in Manhattan, New York. In parts of the show there are also British accents to listen to and learn.

How I Met Your Mother

It is one of the most successful situation comedies in the United States, attracting the audience all around the world. Ifs about the life of five friends that live in New York, focusing on their work and their favorite free time activity: sitting in their favorite bar. You get to know many modern American expressions and can enjoy a lot of dialects that make the show even more interesting.

1. Which of the following has an unexpected ending?

A．Friends.

B．Sherlock.

C．Games of Thrones.

D．How J Met Your Mother.

2. What can audience learn from both Sherlock and Friends!

A．British accents.	B．Humorous conversations.
C．American dialects.	D．Wonderful performances.

3. What do we know about How I Met Your Mother!

A．It is about five American students.

B．It attracts audience from all over the world.

C．There are many formal expressions in the show.

D．It’s the only successful sitcoms in the United States.

I’ve always dreamed of traveling the world, but like so many others, I ended up on choosing to follow a career path instead of following my dream. I founded a company that I loved. Everything changed when I broke up with my girlfriend.

Sadness pushed me to my breaking point. It took me around three months after the break-up to finally make the decision to leave and travel the world. It was one of the hardest things I had ever done, but it was also the best choice I ever made in my life.

To this day, I still remember the day I called my parents, who are also deaf, to discuss my plans to travel the world. Both of my parents gave me their full support. They told me to go ahead and helped book my flight to Thailand.

I chose Southeast Asia as my first, and I was fortunate to spend it with my good friend Mic Dolan. We spent about six weeks backpacking through Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, having fun with tiger cubs and riding elephants. There was a new adventure every day. We paused long enough in Thailand to get certified in scuba diving, which turned out to be my favorite part. After that trip, I flew to Europe to meet another friend, John Hathaway. In this part of the journey, John and I turned our travels into a full-time adventure and we shared all of our stories on the Vlog platform Seek The World.

Showing the people that I met and my readers who I am makes me more confident with what I want for my life. After meeting many deaf people, I realized that I have done one thing that everybody wants to do: I’m reaching my dream by breaking down communication barrier (障碍) and overcoming different challenges. I always find a way. And I always make things happen. I didn’t do that in the past; I’m grateful that I do now.

4. What did the author do after finally deciding to travel the world?

A．Breaking up with his girlfriend.	B．Establishing his own company.
C．Sharing his plan with his parents.	D．Thinking about what will happen.

5. What was the author’s most beloved experience in Southeast Asia?

A．Playing with animals.	B．Diving with his friend.
C．Filming for his Vlog.	D．Backpacking through countries.

6. What is the fifth paragraph mainly about?

A．The significance of this journey.	B．The problems of hearing loss.
C．The advantages of sharing stories.	D．The methods of making things happen.

7. How did the author feel at the end of his journey?

A．Disappointed.

B．Surprised.

C．Interested.

D．Satisfied.

Shopping online make it easy for pet seekers to choose more pets, which was once largely limited to cats and dogs. Today, one should not feel surprised if someone steps out to show off their uniqueness with a rope on a salamander(蝾螈), just as others walk their dogs. However, the owners might cause a challenge to the nation’s biological security(生物安全).

Many of these unique pets are often caught in the wild, requiring hunters to enter nature reserves illegally to catch these protected species. So when some people pay money in advance to get these rare pets, their crime is no less than that of the hunters. Never thought one could spend a few years in jail for buying a pet, right?

In fact, lots of rare pets were thrown away. The pet owners are likely to throw them away because of a little trouble. Some pet lovers raised crocodile turtles(鳄鱼龟) without realizing that when the animal grows its neck could stretch 40 centimeters long, causing greater challenges. However, when pet owners give up these rare pets, they increase the risks for local species. That is because many of these “pets” are foreign species. They have almost no natural enemies in China. As a result, when they are thrown into the wild, they will destroy the local ecology(生态).

Some of the abandoned “pets” might also be dangerous. In 2014, there were reports that someone had put poisonous snakes into the wild in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

One way of strengthening monitoring of these rare pets is by strengthening the regulation of online platforms. As most of these rare pets and their food are sold online, it is time the online platform honor their duties and strengthen monitoring, so that the rare pets don^’t cause anyone any problem.

There is a reason why humans traditionally pick cats or dogs for pets. Maybe, one should just stick to that simple choice.

8. Why do some people keep rare pets?

A．They dislike the traditional pets.

B．They want to show off their uniqueness.

C．They feel traditional pets are very limited.

D．They try to challenge the biological security.

9. Which behavior is likely to destroy the local ecology?

A．Keep rare pets at home.

B．Buy pets on online platforms.

C．Put a poisonous snake into the wild.

D．Throw the foreign species into the wild.

10. Who is most likely to solve the problems mentioned in the passage?

A．The ecologists.	B．The sellers of rare pets.
C．The online platform.	D．The owners of rare pets.

11. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Keeping Traditional Pets Is Better

B．Walking Rare Pets Becomes popular

C．Biological Security Faces Challenges

D．The Rare Pets Cause a New Problem

After 20 years of development, Chinese online literature has become one of the main resources of popular culture consumption in China. While it began with prevalent themes such as romance, fantasy, time travel and history, in recent years, online literature has turned from common themes to realism, which marks a new page in the development of the medium.

A report by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association shows that, in 2020, the market value of Chinese online literature reached nearly 25 billion yuan with a domestic reader base of 460 million people, of which around 7.58 million are active, daily users. By 2020, more than 21 million online writers had created about 29 million works.

Huo Yan, an assistant researcher with the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said “Readers like online literature because it satisfies what people currently most desire. On the surface, people want to be entertained and to relax, so that, in their free time, they don’t want serious thinking, but simply some pleasure from reading. Exactly, people desire to experience the past and the present. In real life, our identities and classes are definite, but online, we can have other identities. For example, if given another life, can a person who lives passively improve their lot in life? In literature, they can feel the pleasure from actively seizing opportunities, becoming stronger and better.”

“The writers of online literature are from all walks of life and each has a unique life experience and passion for literature. Their professional experience and love for writing greatly enrich their works. However, Huo continued: “online literature, despite its vitality, should learn from traditional literature to care more about reality, in addition to improving its language and plotting.”

12. What does the underlined word “prevalent” in the first paragraph mean?

A．Fresh.

B．Serious.

C．Creative.

D．Common.

13. What can we know about online literature from Paragraph 2?

A．It is becoming very popular in China.	B．It has defeated traditional literature.
C．The market value is gradually reduced.	D．It has attracted about 460 million foreigners.

14. Why is online literature so attractive to readers?

A．It makes readers happy.	B．It satisfies readers’ desires.
C．It makes readers think deeply.	D．It improves readers5 writing skill.

15. Which statement will Huo Yan probably agree with?

A．Online literature should focus more on reality.

B．All writers of online literature are professional.

C．The ideas of traditional literary writers are out of date.

D．The language and plotting of online literature are perfect.

Music is one of the most interesting art forms on earth.     16     But did you know it is also a great way to learn English? We thought we’d take some time out to explore exactly how beneficial music is to your language development skills. Below is a list of all the ways that listening to music can improve your English skills.

Strengthen your vocabulary and listening skills.

When listening to a song, you’ll pick up new words that you haven’t heard before.     17     Those songs are full of new vocabulary and phrases that are difficult to forget. For example, listening to a song like “Friday, I’m in Love” by the Cure is a great way to memorize the days of the week! This exercise will also develop your listening skills. Music can help your brain be more receptive to hearing English.

Perfect your pronunciation. Once you have learned the lyrics, you can practice your pronunciation and explore different accents.     18     Singing will help you to learn the correct pronunciation of the words and will also help you remind easily the new vocabulary you have learned.

Catch obvious grammar mistakes. If you have a good eye for mistakes, you can find many grammar “exceptions” songwriters usually use. Sometimes singers need to adapt the lyrics to the rhythm of the song. Therefore, they take some creative liberties and use grammatical mistakes on purpose. It’s not funny when you catch them.     19    

    20     Music can also increase your cultural understanding. Many songs talk about great stories and can teach you a lot about love, life, tradition, history, philosophy, literature, and more. You can find lots of great examples of a storytelling song on the Internet.

A．Discover more about English culture.

B．Remembering the lyrics is very helpful.

C．We enjoy music because it makes us feel great.

D．Those accents depend on the areas the singers come from.

E．Write some storytelling songs to improve your English skills.

F．Listening to a new song per week can help you learn 52 songs a year.

G．It’s very helpful to find these mistakes as a way to practice your English.

On June 20th, we were sailing to India and had good sailing weather all the way. We ________ the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where we had to stay there for the whole winter because the ship was leaking (渗漏) at the bottom and needed ________ . In the ________, we left Africa. But on April 19th, the wind began to become ________and we were driven to the east. On May 2nd, the wind stopped blowing and the sea was ________ . But our captain ________ us that there would be a storm the next day. On May 3rd, the wind began to get stronger. It was a wild wind, blowing from the west. We had to ________ our sails as the storm hit our ship. The wind drove our ________ ship eastwards into the Pacific Ocean.

For several days we ________ with the wind and waves, but at last the storm died away and the sea was calm again. To our great ________our ship was not badly damaged. Finally, we saw a large island. The captain sent some sailors in a ________ to land there and bring back some fresh water. I went with them and was delighted to be on land again. While the men looked for a ________I walked for about a kilometre away from the beach.

When I returned, I saw the sailors were already in the boat. They were ________ as fast as they could towards the ship! I was going to shout to tell them they had ________ me, when suddenly I saw a huge creature walking after them, but I did not wait to see the end of that ________ .I ran away quickly.

21.

A．quitted

B．passed

C．reached

D．explored

22.

A．repairing

B．changing

C．improving

D．cleaning

23.

A．spring

B．summer

C．autumn

D．winter

24.

A．gentle

B．violent

C．normal

D．weak

25.

A．rough

B．strange

C．calm

D．terrible

26.

A．encouraged

B．persuaded

C．promised

D．warned

27.

A．put up

B．cut down

C．take down

D．turn around

28.

A．helpless

B．useless

C．valueless

D．careless

29.

A．played

B．struggled

C．competed

D．compared

30.

A．interest

B．regret

C．horror

D．joy

31.

A．ship

B．car

C．boat

D．plane

32.

A．sea

B．river

C．restaurant

D．factory

33.

A．diving

B．swimming

C．skiing

D．rowing

34.

A．remembered

B．forgotten

C．saved

D．forgiven

35.

A．performance

B．journey

C．game

D．adventure

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。

The Asian elephant is     36     largest land mammal on the Asian continent. They live in forest and grassland habitats in thirteen     37     (country) in Asia. While they have preferred forage plants, Asian elephants are used to     38     (survive) on resources that vary in different areas.

Asian elephants are     39     (extreme) sociable, forming groups of six to seven related females     40     are led by an old female. Like African elephants, these groups sometimes join others     41     (form) larger herds, but these associations are relatively short-lived. In Asia, elephant herd sizes are much     42     (small) than those of Savannah elephants in Africa. Although an elephant spends half a day on the grasses, it can also eat large amounts     43     tree bark, roots, leaves, and small stems. Cultivated crops such as bananas, rice and sugarcane are favorite foods. Elephants are always close to a source of fresh water     44     they need to drink at least once a day.

In some Asian areas, people     45     (have) close associations with elephants over many centuries, and elephants have become important cultural symbols.

根据所给10个英语单句的意思，从所给的15个词汇中挑选出10个合适的词或短语，分别给每个句子填空。

exchange	attitude	balance	means	refer to
strength	failures	unique	creative	focus on
wisdom	despite	actually	responsible	make sure

46. Max Jackson told us just now that he is an ________ student from the UK.
47. I’ll have to study harder as a senior high school student and get used to being   ________ for a lot more.
48. You can then spend three days exploring the rainforest with a local guide and enjoying the plants and animal ________ to the forest.
49. Michael Jordan says that the secret to his success is learning from his ________
50. Tangshan city has proved to the world that in times of disaster, people must unify and show the ________ to stay positive and rebuild for a brighter future.
51. China is widely known for its ancient civilization which has continued all the way through into modern times, ________ the many ups and downs in its history.
52. Finding and keeping the right   ________between progress and the protection of cultural sites can be a big challenge.
53. We must protect the temples and ________ that no damage is done.
54. Spending too much time online is unhealthy and makes it very difficult to ________ other things in life.
55. Written Chinese has also become an important ________ by which China’s present is connected with its past