Have you visited any traditional Chinese gardens? If you compare them to some Western gardens, you may find that traditional Chinese gardens look more like natural landscape. This is one of their main features (特征).
Chinese gardens have a long history. As early as 1500 BC, there were two main types of gardens: imperial (皇帝的) gardens and private gardens. Imperial gardens were for the use of the emperor and his family. Private gardens were built by general nobles (贵族). Both types of gardens were built for hunting and resting.
The Summer Palace (颐和园) in Beijing is China’s most famous imperial garden. It covers about three million square meters. Kunming Lake takes up almost three-fourths of the garden’s total area. There are over 3, 000 ancient buildings and more than 400, 000 plants in the garden. You can also see a great deal of priceless historical treasure. With such a rich collection, the garden is known as the “Imperial Garden Museum.”
As for private gardens, the most famous one is the Humble Administrator’s Garden (拙政园) in Suzhou. It has an area of 41, 000 square meters. When you stand in the garden, it looks like a beautiful picture from any angle (角度). And the whole garden looks different in different seasons.
The traditional Chinese gardens have been designed to look naturally formed. In fact, Chinese gardens are in some ways very much like traditional Chinese landscape paintings. The two have influenced and developed alongside one another. Both of them show the importance of nature in Chinese culture.
1. According to the article, how are traditional Chinese gardens different from Western gardens?2. Why is the Summer Palace called the “Imperial Garden Museum”?
3. What do Chinese gardens have in common with traditional Chinese landscape paintings?
4. What type of Chinese gardens mentioned in the text do you like better? Give your reason(s). Write 30 words or more.
2 . In 2016, Agent, a British company, tested five-hour working days for a month. The hope was that the people in the company would feel happier with reduced working hours. However, the results of the experiment were mixed.
“Lots of good things happened,” says Agent CEO Paul Corcoran. “We looked at tasks in terms of time: Do this in 15 minutes and that in half an hour. We wasted no time. People were missing the worst of the traffic because they were coming in at 10 a. m. instead of 8:30 a. m.”
Problems, however, quickly came up. “People used to have eight hours to finish their jobs. Now, they only had five hours,” Corcoran explains. “The idea was to give people more freedom, but they ended up feeling more stressed.”
In most companies around the world, an employee works for eight hours every workday. But many researchers have looked at the links between working hours and productivity (生产效率). They found that most people could only be productive for five hours each day.
Some companies have been experimenting with shorter working days. In these companies, people work from 8 a. m. to 1 p. m. with no breaks. In order to have the afternoons to themselves, they become much more focused than before. Their productivity increases by 50 percent.
But just like Corcoran, many managers have seen problems with reduced working hours. In addition to the added pressure to complete tasks on time, people are losing something on the relationship level. Since they no longer have time for small talk, it has been harmful for team culture.
It’s hard to say how long the perfect working day should be. Reduced working hours sound great, but having to do more work in less time is tiring. Which would you prefer, five-hour working days or traditional eight-hour ones?
1. When Agent decided to test five-hour working days, it expected ________ results.| A．encouraging | B．mixed | C．lasting | D．harmful |
| A．They had much more work to do. |
| B．They suffered from the worst traffic. |
| C．They had to spend more time communicating with each other. |
| D．They were under more pressure to complete their jobs on time. |
| A．a person who receives a reward from a company | B．a person who does a research for a company |
| C．a person who is asked to learn from a company | D．a person who is paid to work for a company |
| A．Supportive. | B．Negative. | C．Neutral (中立的). | D．Uninterested. |
3 . How do you greet your friends? People from different cultures may have different answers: shaking hands, nodding, kissing...But have you ever wondered how animals “say hello” to others?
We know how similar chimpanzees (黑猩猩) are to humans. It’s no surprise that their greetings are also close to ours. Chimpanzees usually greet each other with a hand touch, a hug or sometimes a kiss. Some of them can also communicate through simple sign language (手语).
Some animals seldom make loud sounds, for example, giraffes. Male giraffes often use their necks to greet each other. Their necks can reach up to two meters. When two giraffes meet, they may “shake” their necks and rub (摩擦) them against each other. This is to feel how strong and tall the other is.
Dolphins greet one another with whistles (哨叫声). They can hear other dolphins from many kilometers away. Every dolphin has a different whistle. It tells information about the dolphin, such as its age and health. When two groups of dolphins meet, they each choose a member of the other group to “talk” to. The two groups can then join up and travel together.
1. According to the text, chimpanzees may greet each other ________.| A．by saying “hello” | B．by touching hands |
| C．through a real language | D．through a simple sound |
| A．Giraffes often communicate mainly through loud sounds. |
| B．Giraffes greet each other by rubbing their noses together. |
| C．When a male giraffe runs into another one, they use necks to hit each other. |
| D．Giraffes learn about the strength and height of each other through greeting. |
| A．use their tails to greet each other | B．compete to decide the new leader |
| C．each select a member of the other group to “talk” to | D．avoid talking to any members of the other group |
(① = Paragraph 1, ② = Paragraph 2, ...)
A． | B． | C． | D． |
4 . The first castles were built in Europe around the 9th century. These castles were very strong buildings where a king or prince could live safely with his army around him. Such castles let the king or prince watch out for attacks and keep out the people he did not like. The castles also let the king or prince watch the people who lived around the castle.
There were not many castles in Europe around 900 AD, but around 1000 AD things changed. Suddenly, many people were building castles because there was an increase in the fighting in Europe during this time. In 1066, William the Conqueror ordered that many castles must be built in England because he was trying to control the people of England. But William was not alone. Because there were many kings and princes fighting in Europe, many more castles were built. These castles were built to be very strong, so some of them can still be seen today.
The first castles used a simple design. A tower was put on top of a lot of earth. All this earth was put under the tower to make it very tall. Moving all this earth made a huge hole all around the tower. Often, this large hole was filled with water. Stone or wood bridges were used to go across this water to get into the tower. A wall was built around the open area near the tower. The family of the king or prince and some of the people who served him lived within this area so that they would be safe. The first castles were made largely of wood in the beginning, but stone became more popular over time. This was because wood catches fire and burns easily. Stone was a better choice for castles.
1. The first castles were built in Europe so that a king or prince ______.| A．stopped their enemies attacking |
| B．kept out the animals he did not like |
| C．watched the people who lived far away from the castle |
| D．lived a rich and happy life with his family around him |
| A．William the Conqueror let people do it |
| B．there were more fights during that time |
| C．more people wanted to control England |
| D．many kings tried to make them stronger |
| A．Stone. | B．Earth. | C．Wood. | D．Water. |
| A．To introduce the fights in Europe. | B．To introduce the castles in Europe. |
| C．To describe kings’ or princes’ lives. | D．To describe William the Conqueror. |
5 . ①A culture’s two greatest gifts are foods and festivals. They often go hand in hand. In China, moon cakes are eaten for Mid-Autumn Festival. Different kinds of foods are cooked in every culture. When we think of a country, one of the first things we imagine is its food. Follow us around the world to learn more about delicious foods and eating habits.
Italy
②The Italians know how to eat. It is home to the three Ps: pizza, pasta and Parmesan cheese. Italian food writer Marcella Hazan once said Italy has two skills—“the art of cooking, and the art of eating”. So what makes Italian food famous?
③They love fresh food and choose their ingredients (食材) by season. So all year round new flavors (味道) can be seen in the Italian countryside.
Mexico (墨西哥)
④Mexico has a proud food history and has influenced many other countries, especially Spain (西班牙). Mexican dishes have three main ingredients: corn, beans and chili peppers (红胡椒粉).
⑤Corn is used to make tortillas (玉米粉圆饼) and nachos (烤干酪辣味玉米片), which always go with a main dish in Mexico. Dishes are usually very hot and spicy (辣的), as most of them are made with freshly chopped chili peppers. Beans are also an important part of Mexican food culture and are grown to make chocolate. In fact, people loved chocolate so much that it was used in many ancient rituals (古典仪式).
US
⑥The US is home of the hot dog and the place for hot apple pie. It is also the birthplace of fast food culture. The American dinner plate is a mixture of many flavors.
⑦Fast food made eating quick and easy for busy people. However, their big appetite (胃口) has caused big health problems. Eating fast food, along with other unhealthy foods, has caused the US to become one of the most obese (肥胖的) nations in the world.
1. What does the writer think is connected with each other in the text?| A．Foods and festivals. | B．Cultures and countries. |
| C．Foods and eating habits. | D．China and other countries. |
| A．enjoy eating fast food | B．like hot and spicy food |
| C．are quite good at cooking | D．are all most famous artists |
| A．Spain. | B．Italy. | C．Mexico. | D．America. |
(①=Paragraph 1,②=Paragraph 2, ...)
A． | B． | C． | D． |
6 . Scientists use computer games to study how ants fight. Computer games can sometimes be very helpful to scientists! A team of scientists in Australia played Age of Empires, a war game, to study ants. They tried to find ways to help local ants live better.
Argentinian ants are an invasive species (入侵物种) in Australia. When they meet with local meat ants, the two ant types fight. And usually, Argentinian ants win. This is dangerous. When local ants die and the invasive animals grow in number, the newcomers may eat a lot of plants and harm the local environment.
Scientists want to help local ants win. They built two characters in the game: Knights as the meat ants that are bigger in size but smaller in number, and Swordsmen as the Argentinian ants that are smaller in size but bigger in number. When the game starts, the characters start fighting with each other just like the two ant types do in real life.
After rounds (轮) of fighting, nine Knights lost to 50 Swordsmen on the flat ground. But the same team of Knights beat 70 Swordsmen in an uphill (上坡的) environment. It showed that the local meat ants could do better in complex environments. The scientists also did tests with real ants. The results were the same.
The team believes that cities can add more lower plants under trees. This way, there will be more complex environments, and the meat ants may win the “wars” against invasive ants.
1. What will happen if local meat ants die and Argentinian ants grow in number?| A．Scientists will be very dangerous. |
| B．The two ant types will live better. |
| C．Local meat ants may eat up a lot of plants. |
| D．Argentinian ants may hurt the environment. |
| A．harmless | B．polluted |
| C．made of many different things | D．made up of few harmful things |
| A．To build more characters in the game. |
| B．To grow more lower plants under trees. |
| C．To let Argentinian ants smaller in number. |
| D．To make the meat ants much bigger in size. |
| A．Helping local ants fight | B．Playing computer games |
| C．Giving a good suggestion | D．Protecting the environment |
China has entered the business of making airplanes. The first Chinese-made commercial (商业的) aircraft took off from Shanghai on Sunday and landed at Beijing Airport. The narrow-bodied C919 plane had 128 passengers on board. The company that made the plane is the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Lid. This is shortened to “COMAC”. China’s President Xi Jinping praised the C919 aircraft as a “triumph of Chinese innovation”. Newspaper s in China called the C919 “a symbol of industrial strength and national pride”. A passenger on the flight was impressed with the plane. He said: “The flight was very smooth, comfortable and memorable. I’ll remember this deeply for some time to come.”
COMAC hopes to be a major player in the commercial airplane market. It hopes to compete with industry giants such as Boeing and Airbus. COMAC started developing the C919 in 2008. Production began in late 2011. In September 2022, it passed the standards (标准) to fly commercially in China. COMAC’s first customer was China Eastern Airlines, which bought five of the aircraft. COMAC plans to build 150 planes each year for the next five years. A spokesperson said there were orders for more than 1,000 C919s from different Chinese airlines. He hopes airlines from other countries will soon start making orders. He added that the plane was an “important milestone” for China’s aircraft industry.
1. Where did the C919 first take off?2. What did newspapers in China call the C919?
3. When did COMAC started developing the C919?
4. “Made in China” (中国制造) is shining worldwide. How do you feel about this? Why?
Japan has started putting radioactive water from the Fukushima (福岛) nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Many people in Japan, as well as countries near Japan, are angry that radioactive water is going into the Pacific.
| A．Hong Kong is worried about food safety as well. |
| B．Local fishermen are worried they will not be able to sell their fish. |
| C．Fishermen in Japan have no complaints about the radioactive water. |
| D．The plant was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. |
| E．Japan stated the water is safe and would not damage the environment. |
Learning English takes a lot of hard work. Here are some tips to help you improve your English quickly, no matter how much or how little you already know.
If you’re in a class, you should attend class, do the homework and study as much as you can. Courses are good because they push you to learn. But even if you’re not in a class, it’s still possible to practice when you have free time.
Like any goal, learning a language is always easier and more fun if you have a reason to do so. Be sure to remain focused on that reason, since it will help get you through the times when learning seems hard.
You’re not perfect, so you’re going to make mistakes when you’re learning English. The sooner you accept this, the better. Now it will be much easier for you to communicate with others and get your point across. So how can you find language partners to communicate with? Well, use your classmates.
The Internet is a great tool for language learning. It’s common for people to use the Internet to practice their English skills these days. The Internet would probably be the closest thing to a magic program to learn English quickly. So take advantage of all the resources that we have available to us in this day and age!
There’s no shortcut to learn English well. Just keep working hard, and you’ll succeed in the end.
1. What should you do to make learning English easier and more interesting?| A．Make detailed plans. | B．Develop you own rules. |
| C．Set your own goals. | D．Correct your mistakes. |
| A．We can speak English fluently with your partners’ help. |
| B．The Internet plays an important role in learning English. |
| C．We are supposed to practice English as much as you can. |
| D．People can make mistakes when they’re learning English. |
| A．To provide some good English-learning examples for you. |
| B．To explain some practical skills to express yourself freely. |
| C．To describe the advantages of learning English with friends. |
| D．To introduce some good methods to improve your English. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
Everyone knows that light attracts insects. In ancient times, people questioned why winged insects buzzed around fire. An old saying describes this attraction as being, “like a moth to a flame” (飞蛾扑火). However, a recent study ends the long-believed idea that insects fly towards light because they like it. Biologists at Imperial College London have reported that insects are drawn to light because it helps with their directions when they are flying. The scientists said artificial (人造的) light actually can make some insects lose their way. Jamie Theobald, co-author of the study, said all our guesses about why insects fly toward light “might have been wrong”.
The scientists planned their research in a rainforest in Costa Rica. They put artificial lights under the canopy (林冠) and surveyed the creatures’ flying behavior. Insects usually knows their directions by the moon to fly in straight lines. However, around the artificial lights, the insects became confused and made arcs (弧) and strange patterns of flight. An entomologist said: “Natural sky light helps maintain (维持) proper flight but Artificial light can produce continuous turning around the light and trap an insect.” Artificial light badly influences an insect’s ability to find a mate, things for food, and protect itself against natural enemies.
1. What is ancient people’s attitude towards “a moth to a flame”?| A．Unconcerned. | B．Acceptable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
| A．Because they want to provide help for others. |
| B．Because they want to exchange their greetings. |
| C．Because they want to look for something to eat. |
| D．Because they want to make sure their directions. |
| A．To find a better way to catch insects. | B．To test a conclusion of their guesses. |
| C．To make new medicine to kill insects. | D．To stop insects from damaging the crops. |
| A．An old saying connected with insects | B．An adventure carried out in rainforest |
| C．Artificial light is dangerous for insects | D．Insects fight against their natural enemies |
