【推荐1】HANGZHOU—Wearing a backpack and earphones, Peter Zhang set off from his office during rush hour, accompanied by his favourite podcast. Podcasts (播客) have become a life companion for the 27-year-old white-collar worker in Beijing. “When I’m commuting (通勤) or waiting, the podcast fill the boring blanks.” he said.

According to a report by market research company eMarketer, there were 86 million podcast listeners in China last year, second only to the United States. In eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Zhao Fanyu prepared dinner for herself while listening to a podcast. “Listening to podcasts gives me some companionship when I’m doing chores or cooking.” she said. After getting her master’s degree, Zhao found a job in Jiaxing as a grassroots civil servant. She listens to podcasts for more than an hour a day and usually listens to discussions about current events and hot topics. She says podcasts are becoming a spiritual home for young people living alone in big cities. Young urbanites like Zhao living in China’s first-and-second-tier cities are the main audience for podcasts. They care about current affairs and personal feelings, and they listen to serious discussions as well as those about games and entertainment.

Based on the statistics from podcast search engine Listen-Notes, there were more than 40,000 Chinese podcasts at the end of last year, up from more than 10,000 in April 2020. Dong Chenyu, a lecture at Renmin University of China’s School of Journalism and Communication, said sound sometimes has advantages over video. He said the COVID-19 pandemic has made people spend more time at home, but prolonged screen time has affected their eyes, making podcasts a welcome relief.

Podcasts are also gradually becoming more valuable commercially. Shu Yulong, CEO of podcast app Xiaoyuzhoufm, said podcasts are now gradually being taken seriously by players in the media market. “In 2021, traditional paper media started to enter the podcast market, opening podcast accounts on Xiaoyuzhoufm, and recording audio content for podcast platform distribution.” Shu said.

Market researcher eMarketer predicts the number of podcast listeners in China will reach 102 million this year, and that more than 10 percent of the Chinese population will be podcast listeners by 2024.

1. Why does the passage mention Peter Zhang and Zhao Fanyu?

A．To introduce the topic of the passage.	B．To show the popularity of podcasts.
C．To emphasize the importance of podcasts.	D．To support the author’s opinion.

2. Which kind of program are podcast listeners probably interested in?

A．The World Today	B．Weather Forecast
C．The Traffic Report	D．Chinese Eight Cuisine

3. What’s the social media’s attitude to podcasts?

A．Indifferent.

B．Mixed.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

4. Where can you possibly read this passage?

A．In a contract.

B．In a journal.

C．In a newspaper.

D．In a brochure.

【推荐2】It’s 9:30 A.M. in Los Angeles. Jamiah Hargins pulls a few short, green-leafed plants out of the ground in his West Adams backyard, revealing the peanuts (花生). He opens one and gives it a taste.

Hargins started growing food at home because he wanted more nutritious options for his family. He soon found that he grew more than they could eat, so he turned to social media to start a “crop swap (交换)” with neighbors who were dealing with a similar situation. Launched in 2018, Crop Swap LA has since moved towards a more expansive yard-sharing model.

Hargins’ attempt at urban farming was also driven by bigger concerns. A 2016 Deloitte study identified a shift in the priorities shoppers said helped determine their choices, with social impact values including local sourcing and sustainability (可持续性) now ranking alongside traditional drivers like “taste” and “price”.

Crop Swap LA has branched into farmer’s markets, workshops for kids, and other community-focused offerings. It encourages homeowners to “share” their yards with the Crop Swap LA team, which will plant crops. When the crops are harvested, they’ll be sold primarily in low-income areas. Ten percent will be donated back to the neighborhood where they were grown and then an additional percentage will be sold in higher-income areas. Some funds made are given back to the landowner, which Hargins expects will amount to about $5,000 annually.

This summer, Crop Swap LA received $50,000 from the LA 2050 Grant Challenge, which was used to change their first seven gardens, One homeowner, Mychal Creer, is a Los Angeles native who said he has always wanted to grow food but never real got the ball rolling. He’s excited to watch his land transform. And he’s excited to meet more neighbors.

“I’m glad that we are creating a community using crops as the means of connection,” Creer said.

1. Why did Hargins start growing food in his backyard?

A．He followed the example of his neighbors.

B．He hoped to make a profit by selling the food.

C．He wanted to provide healthy food for his family.

D．He learned about the benefits of home-grown food on social media.

2. What is an extra consideration about the produce when people go shopping now?

A．Whether it is grown through modern farming method.

B．Whether it is popular among local consumer.

C．Whether it is grown by professional farmer.

D．Whether it is friendly to the environment.

3. What can we learn about Crop Swap LA’s yard-sharing program?

A．It brings food and profit to the landowner.

B．It mainly attracts people from low-income areas.

C．It will help the growers make up to $5,000 every year.

D．It donates ten percent of the food to low-income families.

4. How does Creer benefit from Crop Swap LA’s program?

A．He feels a stronger sense of connection.

B．He has made $50,000 from the lands so far.

C．His garden has become more beautiful than before.

D．He enjoys greater popularity among his neighbors.

【推荐2】阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

While other teenagers might be busy taking care of their personal pages online or playing games for hours, 14-year-old Jackson Oswalt from Memphis has been busy doing something different. He has spent his free time building his own nuclear reactor (核反应堆) in his home. Now, the boy is praised by city leaders for his achievement as he is the youngest person to have achieved nuclear fusion (核聚变).

At just 12 years old, Jackson chose to spend his time exploring his interest in nuclear physics. After scouring the Internet, the student learned of the story of Taylor Wilson, an Arkansas boy who won recognition in the field of science as the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion in 2008 at the age of 14. Jackson was greatly inspired by him.

The process of the nuclear experiment is not easy at all. But Jackson thought if Wilson could do it, then he could, too. Maybe he could even break Wilson’s record in the process. The boy started his project by turning his playroom into a laboratory. Then he bought different kinds of things to build own nuclear fusion reactor.

“The beginning of the scientific research was just learning about what other people had done with their fusion reactors,” Jackson said. His parents spent nearly $8,000 to $10,000 supporting his nuclear experiment. “With the money, I searched for and bought the parts that I needed. Often the parts I found were not exactly what I wanted, so I had to make improvements to them.”

Jackson’s hard work finally paid off. Hours before his 13^th birthday, he made history as the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion in January last year. Months after the project, Jackson continued to test his fusion reactor to further prove his project. On Tuesday, Memphis City leaders officially praised Jackson’s achievements with a resolution.

1. What has Jackson Oswalt spent his free time doing? (no more than 10 words)
________________
2. What does the underlined word in Para.2 probably mean? (1 word)
________________
3. How did Jackson Oswalt start his project?(no more than 10 words)
________________
4. Why did Jackson have to make improvements to the parts?(no more than 15 words)
________________
5. What do you think of Jackson Oswalt ? Please explain.(no more than 20 words)
________________

【推荐2】Intrigued by Maya civilization from a very young age, 15-year-old Canadian William Gadoury thought he had made an incredible discovery from his study of ancient star charts. Through comparison, he found that the locations of the 117 known Maya cities correspond to the positions of the stars. Based on this, he believed he had spotted an unknown Maya city buried deep in the jungle.     1    

It isn’t difficult to see why. Extending south from parts of what we now know as Mexico into Central America, Maya civilization has been surrounded by mystery since its rediscovery in the 19th century. The Maya built impressive palaces and temples, including their representative step pyramids. What is most extraordinary about these complex structures is how they were built without the use of wheels, metal tools or even animal power. The Maya’s understanding of mathematics and astronomy was also quite amazing.     2    

The fact that Maya society was technologically primitive makes its achievements all the more incredible and mysterious.     3     By 700 AD, Maya civilization was at its peak. Yet, within just a couple of generations, it began to mysteriously decline. The cities were left to be taken back by the jungle. When Europeans arrived in Central America in the early 16th century to claim its riches, the remaining Maya people were living in small settlements.

Why Maya civilization collapsed remains a mystery. Was it a natural disaster? A deadly disease? Conflicts between cities? Or was it a combination of several different factors?     4     They had turned wetlands into fields for growing grains, and had dug huge canal systems. As their population expanded, yet more land was needed for agriculture and more trees for construction. By changing the landscape in this way, it is possible that the Maya people unknowingly reduced their ability to deal with natural disasters.

Whatever the reasons, Maya civilization largely disappeared within the deep jungle. Its once—great cities fell into ruin, leaving various mysteries for later people to solve.

A．Research suggests that those natural disasters may have led to the decline of the Maya.

B．But the greatest mystery of all is what caused the Maya to abandon most of their great cities.

C．It turned out that the lucky boy hit the jackpot and the Maya city was eventually brought to light.

D．Some research seems to indicate that the Maya people themselves may have played a part in their downfall.

E．Although his theory has been dismissed by scholars, it shows how powerful the secrets of Ancient Maya civilization are among people.

F．They applied this understanding to the Maya calendar, which was accurate to within 30 seconds per year.

【推荐3】Straw Weaving (草编)

What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of wheat straw?    1    , However, Wu Cui, an intangible cultural inheritor, can turn the straw left over from harvested wheat into beautiful and eye-catching functional artworks.

·The Origin of Straw Weaving

    2     The Book of Rites, one of the classical works of Confucianism, also records that there were already mats made of cattail grass and professional straw-weaving craftsmen during the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century—256 BC).

·The Process of Straw Weaving

Straw weaving is a method of manufacturing daily items or artworks. Wu explains the process of straw weaving: selection of materials is the first step of a complicated, time-consuming and labor-intensive process that can take weeks, or even months, to complete. You need to sketch (素描) the piece on paper, which requires drawing skills.     3    Even by finishing that process, it does not mean that you will always create a good piece of work, and the hardest part is to make it lifelike.

·The Current Situation of Straw Weaving

    4     But due to the impact of industrialization, manufactured goods have replaced such products, which yield low profits, and there are only about 100 individuals engaging in the work across the country. “The world has changed, and craftsmen need to transcend practicality and pursue the beauty and artistry of straw culture to help the craft survive and thrive,” Wu says.

·The Future of Straw Weaving

From her perspective, straw weaving should respond to people’s needs and preferences, while still drawing inspiration from traditional culture.     5    she says. When asked about her plans, Wu says she wants to dig deeper into local traditional culture and create cultural creative products by developing the straw-weaving technique.

A．Next comes weaving, shaping and preserving of the work.

B．The earliest straw-weaving products were discovered at Hemudu Cultural Ruins.

C．It was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

D．“Craftspeople should be responsive and creative and constantly update their products,”

E．Most people would probably just see it as a pile of waste in a farmer’s field.

F．“Craftspeople should try their best efforts to promote products,”

G．In the past, woven straw items could be found almost in every household in the countryside.