How does your teacher make you sit—in rows or in groups? How would you like to sit? Does sitting in rows make you feel good or does it make you feel lonely? Do you feel that sitting in a group and discussing things makes you learn more in an easier way?
In the last 30 years or so, experts on teaching methods have thought about these questions. They felt that sitting in rows was not very useful to children, and that they learnt easier and better when they sat around a table in a group. That way, they could also learn to get along with others and exchange ideas easily.
However, it seems they were not quite right. At least Nigel Hastings, professor of Nottingham Trent University, does not think so. He has been researching classroom behavior for the last 20 years in England. His conclusion (结论) is that children work much better when they sit in rows than sitting around in groups.
His study found that students wasted a lot of time talking when they were placed in groups. When children were made to sit singly or in pairs and not in groups as they were used to, they were more attentive (专注的) to their work.
Right now, most primary school students in England are seated in groups of four and six according to Sunday Times. So the report of Nigel’s study could make a big difference to how they will sit and learn.
1. Why did some experts think sitting in groups was better?2. What’s the conclusion of Nigel’s study?
3. What happened when students sat in groups in Nigel’s study?
4. How are the most pupils in England seated nowadays?
5. Would you like to sit in groups or in rows? Why?
2 . What makes you happy? Beautiful music, good friends or interesting games? If you are a food lover, nice food will make you feel happy. However, delicious food can’t always be easy to get. When you feel bad and there’s no food available, what will you do? Some American researchers (研究人员) say that you can try to draw some nice food. According to their new research, drawing pictures of the food you like will help improve your mood (情绪).
The researchers invited 61 students from St. Bonaventure University in New York to take part in the research. The 22 men and 39 women were all in their early twenties. The researchers first divided the students into four groups and gave them red, green, brown and black pencils to draw pictures of different food including cupcakes, pizza, strawberries and pepper (胡椒).
The researchers used a research tool to assess mood changes. They made the students record their mood, hunger and level of excitement before and after the five-minute drawing exercise, which was done when they were hungry.
The result showed drawing pizza improved the students’ mood by 28%, while drawing cupcakes and strawberries improved their spirit by 27% and 22%. However, mood in the pepper group improved by only 1%. The result also showed there was such a big difference in hunger and excitement levels between the groups. Will drawing pictures of food help stop people from overeating (吃得过多) one day? The researchers said the influence on mood was not known now and more researches were needed.
1. The underlined word “assess” in the passage means “________” in Chinese.| A．评估 | B．连接 | C．增长 | D．决定 |
| A．strawberries | B．pepper | C．pizza | D．cupcakes |
| A．The students for the research were all 20 years old. |
| B．The four groups of students did the research when they were hungry. |
| C．Drawing pictures of different food improved the students’ mood differently. |
| D．The researchers said the influence on mood was not known now and more researches were needed. |
| A．It’s mainly about a research on happiness. | B．It’s mainly about the level of happiness. |
| C．It’s mainly about the secrets of happiness. | D．It’s mainly about the ways of happiness. |
3 . Para 1. Stonehenge is an ancient circle of stones in the south of England. It was built about 5,000 years ago. Every year, it attracts thousands of tourists to enjoy its beauty. They also wonder about how and why it was built.
Para 2. There are about 80 stones and each is about five meters tall. The stones were 380 kilometers away from where they were made. The ancient people had only wooden tools. To move the stones they probably used tree trunks(树干) to roll them along. So it was a wonder to build Stonehenge. Scientists say it took millions of man-hours to move and raise the heavy stones. How did people move these huge pieces of stone from the place so far? No one knows the answer. One record said the great stones were carried to England by huge magical (有魔力的) aliens! But we don’t know.
Para 3. Some scientists believe that Stonehenge was a temple. Some believe it was place to bury dead people or perhaps it was used to study the stars and the sky at night. Others think it was even used to tell the time. Whatever the stones were used to do, they have always been the pride of British people.
Para 4. In modern times Stonehenge has become a huge hit with tourists.
1. Every year thousands of visitors come to visit Stonehenge to ________.| A．study how and why it was built | B．enjoy its beauty |
| C．take photos around it | D．meet the people who built it |
| A．Paragraph1. | B．Paragraph 2. | C．Paragraph 3. | D．Paragraph4. |
| A．Stonehenge attracts many people from al over the world every year. |
| B．Scientists don’t exactly know what tools ancient people used to roll the stones. |
| C．The stones have always been the pride of British people. |
| D．British men carried heavy stones from over 380 kilometers away. |
The Double Ninth Festival is a special day for the old in China. It started long ago. The festival is on lunar September 9th. It is held to show love and respect to the old.
Respecting the old is a tradition in China. That’s because Chinese know that the old have more knowledge and experience. There are many ways for Chinese people to show their respect. When an old person enters a room, everyone stands up. People are introduced from the oldest to the youngest. When we give a book to an old person, we should use our both hands. The young always offer their seats to the old on a crowded subway or bus.
In western countries, however, the old seldom think they are old. They are called “seniors” instead of “the old”. They’d rather do everything themselves. Even after retirement (退休), they take up hobbies, part-time jobs and new activities to keep their bodies working well. And of course among westerners, seniors are respected, too. Usually, seniors don’t have to buy tickets for trains or buses. They get discounts (折扣) in stores and restaurants.
But western seniors don’t often live with their children. For holidays, the young usually meet at their grandparents’ or parents’ home. They give seniors a great smile and a warm hug to show their respect. All of them feel warm and happy.
1. When is the Double Ninth Festival?2. Why is respecting the old a tradition in China?
3. How many ways for Chinese people to show their respect are mentioned in the passage?
4. Where can western seniors get discounts?
5. How do the young in western countries show their respect to seniors?
5 . Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don’t understand the culture behind it.
For example, if an American boy asks his mother what’s for dinner tomorrow, she may say “I’ll play it by ear”, that means she doesn’t have plans for dinner and she will decide later. “Play by ear” used to mean playing music using the sheet music (活页乐谱), but now people often use it when they’re not talking about music.
There’re many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid (清晰的) and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, “Give me a hand”, you don’t necessarily stretch (伸) out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It’s not about the color of your hand! You’re a green hand when you are very new at your work and don’t have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely (肯定) work together very well.
Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?
1. An idiom is ________.| A．a phrase or a sentence that means exactly what the words say |
| B．a phrase or a sentence that doesn’t mean exactly what every word says |
| C．so difficult that nobody can understand |
| D．something to do with parts of your body |
| A．she will cook dinner while listening to music at the same time |
| B．she doesn’t hear what others are talking about |
| C．she will play music using the sheet music instead of cooking dinner |
| D．she doesn’t have plans for dinner and will decide later |
| A．he needs to hold your hand. | B．he works well with you |
| C．he needs your help | D．he is a new comer and can’t help with the situation |
| A．People use English idioms more in spoken English than in written English. |
| B．To understand the culture behind an idiom is important in understanding the idiom. |
| C．Idioms make your English more vivid and colorful so they are easy to remember. |
| D．You may not understand an idiom even though you know the meaning of each word. |
| A．to depend on oneself | B．to know something very well |
| C．to do something secretly | D．to have the habit of stealing |
6 . To help players perform better in the World Cup, people have been improving the match balls for years. Let’s check out some famous World Cup balls.
 Telstar (1970): It was the first ball to appear on live broadcast (直播). It was made with a black and white pattern so that it could be seen on black and white televisions. |  Azteca (1986): It was the first ball to include designs inspired by the hos nation — Mexico. |
 Tango Espana (1982): It was the first ball with water-resistant (防水的) qualities. It was also the last ball made of leather (真皮). |  Tricolore (1998): The Tricolore was the first World Cup ball that has many colors. The colors came from the national flag of the host nation — France. |
 Teamgeist (2006): It was the first ball to change from the 32 panels (拼块) introduced in 1970. It had just 14 panels. | |
 Al Rihla (2022): It is a new ball made for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It has been widely believed that the “Al Rihla” will be the fastest ball ever used in a soccer competition. It has a new 20-piece panel shape with bright colors of red and blue. Al Rihla is good for the environment because it used only water-based inks (墨水) and glues. | |
| A．Telstar | B．Tango Espana | C．Tricolore | D．Teamgeist |
| A．1982 | B．1998 | C．1986 | D．2022 |
| A．has 14 panels | B．is the first World Cup ball |
| C．is white and black | D．is environmentally friendly |
| A．Telstar could be seen on live broadcast. | B．Tango Espana was the fastest ball. |
| C．The 1986 World Cup was held in France. | D．Teamgeist was first used in 1970. |
| A．To call on people to play football together. | B．To introduce famous World Cup balls. |
| C．To invite people to watch the World Cup. | D．To show the importance of the World Cup. |
Volunteering not only benefits those in need but also is helpful for the volunteers themselves. It can connect you to others, provide a sense of purpose and make you grow as a person.
While it’s true that the more you volunteer, the more benefits you’ll experience making the decision to take the first step can be the biggest challenge. Some people wonder if they will be able to meet the organization’s expectations. Some people fear not knowing anyone else in the group. Not having enough time also prevents some from sharing their abilities.
The following tips can help if you have some of these worries.
★Start out with small steps and don’t add too much pressure. Even a few hours a month can be very helpful.
★Work with someone who volunteered a lot. He can help you increase the confidence and completely understand the organization’s expectations.
★Choose an organization with the same interests and common values.
Volunteering makes people look at the world differently. Spend some time on volunteer work and you will see how little things can change a person’s life for the better which makes everyone better person.
Title: How to Start the Journey of Volunteering | |
| Opinion | ★Volunteering helps people in need, and at the same time it does |
| The biggest problem | ★It is hard to make the decision to take the first step. |
| The | ★Some people are not ★Some people fear not knowing others in the group. ★Some people can’t afford time to be volunteers. |
| The ways to solve the problem | ★Start with small goals at first. ★Find a/an ★Choose an organization that suits you well. |
| Ending | ★Volunteering can make a |
These days, short videos and live streaming （网络直播）have gotten millions of views online. More and more people create and share short videos on popular apps like Douyin and Kuaishou to show parts of their lives.
Using live streaming is popular among the people aged 18 to 35. Even the teachers give lessons by live streaming. Besides leaving reviews on the screen, viewers can also communicate directly with the hosts by buying virtual（虚拟的）gifts such as flowers, toys and cars for them online. The most recent famous example was the Olympic swimmer Fu Yuanhui. She did one-hour live streaming which reached more than 11 million viewers.
What’s more, live streaming allows users to communicate with strangers and express themselves. A 19-year-old college student called Nic Li says she spends three to four hours each week chatting and singing with viewers through one app called Ingkee. “Sometimes I feel lonely and want to talk to people,” she says, “I feel nice when viewers are paying attention to me.”
However, as there are more than 80 apps and 300 websites for live streaming in China, the Internet regulator（监管机构）almost can’t monitor the content（内容）all the time.
“We support the use of live streaming. But people should be aware of the two sides of it,” one of the officials said.
1. What do more and more people show by sharing videos on apps?2. How do viewers communicate with hosts?
3. Why is Nic Li’s example mentioned?
4. It isn’t difficult for the Internet regulator to monitor the content all the time, is it?
5. What should people be aware of when using live streaming?
9 . Recently, researchers in Israel have done an experiment and found that goldfish are able to navigate(导航) on land after receiving around 10 driving lessons.
The experiment was performed by a research team at the Ben-Gurion University. It was made to see whether goldfish could find their way in a very different environment. Researchers developed a robotic car that could drive forward, backward and from side to side. They called the car FOV—“Fish Operated Vehicle”(鱼驱动车). A goldfish was placed inside a water box on the FOV. Using a set of wheels with a camera system, the FOV recorded the fish’s movements and swimming directions, and then moved in the same direction.
The scientists worked with six different goldfish. They placed the car in a small room with a pink target(目标) on one side. The fish would get food when the car touched the target. After a few days of training, the fish navigated to the target. At first, it took them about half an hour to drive to the target. But by the end of the experiment, they were able to complete the same task in less than a minute. Shachar Givon, one of the researchers, said, “As anyone who has tried to learn how to ride a bike or to drive a car knows, it is challenging at first.”
Not only did the goldfish show that they could drive to the target, but they also weren’t fooled by false targets of other colors. They were also able to get free when the car hit a wall. Although the fish may not have realized they were moving on land, these results show that a fish has the ability to navigate outside its nature environment of water. It can enrich scientific knowledge of animals’ navigation skills.
1. What is the purpose of the goldfish experiment?| A．To see if goldfish could tell different colors. |
| B．To see if goldfish could find food and living places. |
| C．To see if goldfish could navigate in a different environment. |
| D．To see if goldfish could ride a bike or drive a car like humans. |
| A．It was placed inside a water box. |
| B．It could follow the fish’s movements. |
| C．It was driven by a camera system. |
| D．It could control the fish’s directions. |
| A．touched the pink target |
| B．moved in the small room freely |
| C．avoided hitting a wall |
| D．touched the targets of other colors |
| A．It was important for the goldfish to drive a car. |
| B．It was impossible for the goldfish to navigate. |
| C．It was meaningless for the goldfish to be trained at first. |
| D．It was hard for the goldfish to reach the target at the start. |
| A．Good Use of a Robotic Car |
| B．An Experiment on Animals |
| C．Goldfish’s Ability to Navigate on Land |
| D．Goldfish’s Skills to Drive a Car on Land |
10 . Thousands of runners tied their running shoes and rushed out from the starting line while crowds cheered along the course. Marathons (马拉松) in China are getting popular again.
According to the Chinese Athletics Association, a total of 133 marathons across the country have been registered (注册) for the first six months of the year. On March 26, more than 300,000 runners took part in 26 marathon races nationwide, reported China Daily.
Teenagers have also taken part in marathons. Xu Qian, a 15-year-old from Suqian, Jiangsu, loves running. He got first place in the 5-kilometer Happy Run of the Jingdong Suqian Marathon held on April 2. For Xu, the race meant months of training and preparation. He ran about 30 to 40 kilometers in local stadiums each week ahead of the run.
“Unlike the 800-meter run at school which is more about speed, a marathon tests a runner’s endurance (耐力) and psychological quality (心理素质),” he told Teens.
When he felt tired during the race, he told himself not to give up. “In long distance running, the only opponent you have to beat is yourself,” Xu added.
Apart from one’s willpower, kindness from the crowds also plays a big part in helping runners get to the finish line. Li Zhouzi from Shanxi took part in a 3-kilometer Kid Run of the Berlin Marathon in Germany in 2019 when she was 10. The cheers from the people along the course really encouraged her.
“When things were hard, people from across the world cheered me on. Even if it was just the words, ‘keep it up’, it meant a lot to me and enabled me to keep going to the end,” Li told Teens.
She believes that running a marathon is about focusing on the final goal, not the suffering along the way. “Similarly, our life is also a marathon,” Li said.
1. The numbers in Paragraph 2 show that ________.| A．marathons are getting big in China |
| B．our physical fitness is getting better |
| C．more and more young people love running |
| D．China is holding too many marathons this year |
| A．He was no longer a teenager. |
| B．He did much training and preparation. |
| C．He got first place in local stadiums. |
| D．He didn’t feel tired in the marathon. |
| A．Someone who always controls you. |
| B．Someone who never refuses you. |
| C．Someone who competes against you. |
| D．Someone who often cheers you on. |
| A．It made her lose focus. |
| B．It made her feel bored. |
| C．It didn’t matter a great deal to her. |
| D．It made her hold on. |
| A．All the pain and tears are life’s gifts. |
| B．Pain and suffering are not important at all in our life. |
| C．The suffering is more important than the final result. |
| D．Center on the goal and don’t be afraid of the difficulties. |
