There is an old saying in China that goes, “The days of the Sanjiu period are the coldest days.” “Sanjiu period”, which is in Minor (较小的) Cold, refers to the third nine-day period (the 19th to the 27th day) after the day of the Winter Solstice (冬至). There are many different customs related to Minor Cold in China.

Eating hotpot

During Minor Cold people should eat some hot food to benefit the body and defend against the cold weather. Winter is the best time to have hotpot and braised mutton with soy sauce. But it is important to notice that too much spicy food may cause health problems.

Eating huangyacai

In Tianjin, there is a custom to have huangyacai, a kind of Chinese cabbage, during Minor Cold. There are large amounts of vitamins A and B in huangyacai. As huangyacai is fresh and tender, it is fit for frying, roasting and braising.

Eating glutinous (黏的) rice

According to tradition, the Cantonese eat glutinous rice in the morning during Minor Cold. Cantonese people add some fried preserved (腌制的) pork, sausage and peanuts and mix them into the rice.

Eating vegetable rice

In ancient times, people in Nanjing took Minor Cold quite seriously, but as time went by, the celebration of Minor Cold gradually disappeared. However, the custom of eating vegetable rice is still followed today. The rice is steamed and is unspeakably delicious. Among the ingredients (原料), aijiaohuang (a kind of green vegetable), sausage and salted duck are the specialties in Nanjing.

1. What is a special custom in Tianjin in Minor Cold?

A．Eating hotpot.	B．Having vitamin A and B pills.
C．Having huangyacai.	D．Buying cabbage.

2. How do the Cantonese eat glutinous rice?

A．They fry and toast it.	B．They eat it for dinner.
C．They steam it with soy sauce.	D．They mix it with many other things.

3. This text may be taken from the ________ column (栏目) of a newspaper.

A．travel

B．fashion

C．culture

D．science

A group of wandering wild elephants have become an overnight Internet focus in China and global. The group first captured the attention of the locals in March 2020. after they suddenly left their home in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.

While the original group was made of 16, two of which decided to return home after a week. The rest have continued their journey northward, stopping only for a short break in November 2020 to allow a newly born calf (幼兽) and its mother to rest.

Since leaving the reserve, the elephants have walked over 310 miles. Along the way, they have got into farms for food and water, walked through urban streets, and even paid a visit to a car shop and a retirement home. Thanks to the alarming eye of the government officials no animals or people have been hurt. However, they have destroyed more than $1 million worth.

Researchers are not sure why the elephants decided to leave or where they are headed. While elephants are known to leave their habitats in search of food, this is the longest moving of wild elephants recorded in China. Because of the extreme distance traveled, some doubt that the elephants may be lost. However, other scientists think the elephants were forced to move due to deforestation. Successful protection efforts have almost doubled the elephant population in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and the surrounding regions. However, their natural habitat has been continuously reduced to make room for agricultural development.

We’ve seen elephants expanding their range for decades now, as their populations increase, and they search for more food for the growing group, Becky Shu Chen, a scientist at the Zoological Society of London, told The Washington Post.

The wandering elephants’ search for a suitable home has not gone unnoticed by the millions of locals that eagerly follow their daily movements on social media Adam Chang, assigned to deliver food to the elephants, says, “Before this meeting, I just felt curious about animals. Now, I think I would volunteer in animal rights groups to preserve those giant creatures.

4. How many elephants went northward in China?

A．16

B．14.

C．17

D．15

5. What does the underlined word “they” refer to in the third paragraph?

A．The calves

B．The officials

C．The elephants

D．The scientists

6. What might have caused the elephants wandering out of their habitats?

A．They didn’t have enough food	B．They had no sense of direction
C．The leader of the group led the wrong way	D．People grew crops to attract the elephants

7. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Some wild elephants went northward.

B．China made great progress in protecting.

C．Animal protection and agricultural development are contradictory.

D．China’s wandering wild elephant group attracts the world’s attention.

Twenty-five years ago, most young Britons wanted a career in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.

According to a survey by Tesco Mobile, a UK company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger, or “vlogger”. The survey, carried out among 1,002 people, found that as much as 40 percent of them put vlogger as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers.

This change is undoubtedly as a result of the Internet and social media. They have made it so much easier to reach audience of the world, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.

In the past, the biggest stars were trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become a star. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting with their fans about everyday life.”

However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they fail to notice the fact that only those who are successful earn fame and fortune. For every success there are hundreds of others who never get off the starting line. There are the dreams that come true and the dreams that remain dreams forever.

Although being vloggers is popular, some young people choose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the Internet to share their hobbies. Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club. It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races. His job allows him to express his enthusiasm, and is always a learning experience. And that’s enough for him.

8. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Most young Britons choose to be vloggers as their job.

B．The Internet is influencing young Britions’ career choice.

C．The Internet is taking the place of traditional studios.

D．Young Britons can not find jobs without the Internet.

9. Why do more and more young Britons choose to be vloggers?

A．Vloggers can earn little fame and money on the Internet.

B．There is too much competition in the traditional show business.

C．The Internet makes it convenient to become vloggers.

D．Anyone with a computer will surely become a star.

10. What can we infer from the fifth paragraph?

A．Only a few vloggers can be successful.

B．A vlogger can not earn fame and fortune.

C．People often see the bright side of being a vlogger.

D．Dreams will always remain to be dreams.

11. What do young people like David do on the Internet?

A．Learn from others.	B．Become an online hit.
C．Hold running races.	D．Mix jobs with hobbies.

Nearly every week, we hear news about the latest successes and failures in driverless vehicles. But we hear little about how other industries are developing this same kind of technology. One industry heavily involved in researching and developing artificial intelligence, or AI, is agriculture. Companies are experimenting with high-tech tools that can help farmers save time and money, while reducing environment-harming chemicals.

One of the companies is ecoRobotix of SwitzerLand. It created a robot equipped with AI and cameras to identify all plants on a farm. The robot has four wheels to carry it through the fields in search of weeds. Computer-controlled arms then lower and spray the weeds with small amounts of herbicide(除草剂). Company officials say the robot can fully operate on its own for up to 12 hours a day while being powered by the sun. It uses the same kind of sensor and positioning technology used to guide driverless vehicles. A farmer can also control the equipment through a smart-phone.

The co-founder of ecoRobotix, Aurelien Demaurex, says the farm robot can kill weeds with 20 times 1ess herbicide than traditional methods. This is because the system uses exactly the right amount of chemical in the exact place required to kill the weeds. Currently, farmers spread weed killers over massive areas to destroy unwanted plants.

Another company developing farm robotics is California-based Blue River Technology. The company has a system called "See & Spray", which it claims was the world's first smart sprayer. The system-which connects to the back of a tractor-is also equipped with AI to identify and chemically kill only the weeds. It can also spray chemicals on wanted plants to help them grow. Ben Chostner, vice-president of business development for Blue River Technology, explains in a company video that See & Spray technology uses the same deep learning methods used in facial recognition. "The first time the machine saw a pigweed, it didn't know what kind of plant it was. But we taught it-by giving it tens of thousands of examples of that pigweed-and now it's an expert in pigweed. "

12. How will AI benefit agriculture?

A．It will fund agriculture research.

B．It contributes to low-cost farming.

C．It can avoid harmful chemicals.

D．It frees all farmers from field work.

13. What do the products of the two companies have in common?

A．They use recognition technology.

B．They are powered by solar energy.

C．They are connected with smart phones.

D．They can help wanted plants grow rapidly.

14. What do Ben Chostner's words suggest about the robot?

A．It is environmentally-friendly.

B．It is good at self-improving.

C．It has the learning ability.

D．It can track various plants.

15. What is mainly talked about in the text？

A．The experiment in farming robots.

B．New trend in artificial intelligence.

C．Modern See & Spray technology.

D．Artificial intelligence in agriculture.

Rock music consists of many different styles. Even though there is a common spirit among all music groups, they make very different music.     16     At that time the Beatles entered the world of music from Liverpool.

After they were given an invitation to appear live on BBC, the Beatles quickly became famous in Britain with nationwide tours. By mid-1963, the Beatles had been extremely popular in England.     17     They held large concerts and performed at clubs. They became the hottest thing on the pop music scene in England. They began as a modestly successful musician group and ended the year as show business legends(传说). John Lennon and Paul McCartney were named composers of the year.

    18     They were not sure how the Americans would react to the new type of music. Beatlemania hit New York on February 7, 1964. Hundreds of fans jammed the airport to greet them.     19     The concert was broadcast live and attracted the largest one night audience in the history of television up to that time. The Beatles were described as a British invasion(入侵) by local and nationwide newspapers at that time. Their victory in America was still remembered as a major turning point in the history of rock and roll. Thanks to the Beatles, a lot of opportunities were opened up to new faces on the market.     20    

A．They decided on a tour to the United States in 1964.

B．Even their hairstyles became major trends at that time.

C．Rock music developed in the 1950s and the early 1960s.

D．However, their songs changed the lives of generations to come.

E．Many rock bands were able to follow in the footsteps of the Beatles.

F．They appeared in the films A Hard Day's Night(1964)and Help！(1965).

G．They performed their first concert in America at CBS television’s 53rd street studio.

If you have strong arms and feet, patience and a good temper, you might _______ a good waiter. You must start, _______, not in the restaurant, but in the kitchen, helping the chef, to learn how each dish is _______.

From this first step, you may enter the restaurant _______ a ''commis'' (厨助). But you won't be _______ to serve the customers yet. They will only let you do the bottomed jobs, _______the tables and carrying the plates. But all the time you must watch and learn with _______.

Later you may become ''chef de rang'' (a waiter in charge of a number of tables). You may even become a head waiter _______, if you have the right sort of personality and you are not _______ of hard work.

When Carlo Bianchi first arrived in London, he spoke only two words of English - ''please'' and ''Hello''. He ________ to get a job helping in the kitchen of a restaurant, and he spent what little ________ time he had learning English. He was a good worker and soon they ________ him a job in the restaurant as a waiter.

Every night, Carlo ________ to go home exhausted, but never too ________ to study the language for half an hour before going to sleep. And no matter how tired or ill he felt, he always wore a ________ for his customers. They liked him, and people came and asked to be ________ by Carlo.

Now, twenty-five years later, Carlo is in ________ of six restaurants, and he ________ to open a seventh shortly. So friends, in this world success never comes overnight. Start from the ________and make progress step by step with enough patience and ________ chances will fall upon you.

21.

A．make

B．create

C．replace

D．choose

22.

A．otherwise

B．therefore

C．thus

D．however

23.

A．commented

B．tasted

C．prepared

D．chosen

24.

A．as

B．for

C．with

D．to

25.

A．forced

B．allowed

C．banned

D．urged

26.

A．moving

B．laying

C．pushing

D．placing

27.

A．curiosity

B．kindness

C．patience

D．interest

28.

A．simply

B．specially

C．exactly

D．eventually

29.

A．afraid

B．ashamed

C．fond

D．typical

30.

A．managed

B．attempted

C．predicted

D．expected

31.

A．tight

B．useful

C．spare

D．busy

32.

A．threw

B．found

C．sent

D．donated

33.

A．used

B．promised

C．regretted

D．remembered

34.

A．depressed

B．excited

C．worried

D．tired

35.

A．smile

B．face

C．color

D．surprise

36.

A．served

B．approved

C．praised

D．treated

37.

A．favor

B．need

C．possession

D．support

38.

A．hesitates

B．schedules

C．hurries

D．fails

39.

A．easiest

B．slowest

C．simplest

D．lowest

40.

A．after all

B．in time

C．In a word

D．above all

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内的单词的正确形式。

Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce     41     ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     42     (combine) paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi paper-cuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)     43     (create) a typical presentation of Chinese elements (元素), which turns out to be a     44     (success) and impressive breakthrough.

Hua Mulan,     45     story has been told by generations in China, is a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     46     place of her father. Mulan’s characteristics, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude toward fame and fortune, made     47     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroics. Mulan’s story has been adapted     48     (frequent) in modern media, including TV shows, video games and literature. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     49     (consider) a great success by critics and the public.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several     50     (visit)to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yuju Opera. After years of preparation she finally made this extraordinary work.

51. 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增删或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词;
删除：把多余的词用斜线(﹨)划掉；
修改：在错的词下面画一条横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从11处起）不计分。

As we all know, travelling can be an excited experience. Let me give you some advices that you have to pay attention. You can find out more about your destination by surf the Internet before you set out. You needn’t take too many cash. Since it can be very convenient to pay in cash, using cheques is much more reliable. In additional, it will be wise of you to take an umbrella in case of it should rain. And if you are to travel abroad, you’d better understand the culture and diversity. Keep this in mind that being polite in foreign countries can help you had a wonderful trip.

52. 假设你是李华。你的外国朋友John来信询问你的寒假生活和你对未来的憧憬。请写一封信进行回复。回信须包括如下要点：
1. 欢天喜地过了春节;
2. 认真学习，积极参加家务和身体锻炼;
3. 对新学年的规划。
注意：1. 词数不少于100;
2. 可适当加入细节，以使内容充实、行文连贯;
3. 信的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear John,

I am pleased to hear from you. Now I will

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua