1 . Climate change is a serious problem all over the globe. In order to prevent it, one of the best ways is to plant more trees. Because trees can take in carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) in the air and prevent global warming. “The earth is getting greener,” according to a recent study by Chi Chen. “China is doing a great job of ‘greening’ the world.”
Chi Chen, a student at Beijing University, has been working to monitor (跟踪调查) the earth’s green vegetation (植被). He and his friends have used a special camera to see how many new trees have been grown. Chi Chen and his team have found that China has greatly expanded (增加) their forest area. “China and India account for one-third of the earth’s expanded greening,” Chi Chen said.
The data (数据) they collected from 2000 to 2020 showed that China was responsible (负责任的) for 25% of the global increase in green vegetation during the period. The growth was mainly caused by forest protection and expansion programs that China created. For example, since 1962, China has been planting trees in Saihanba (塞罕坝湿地) in Hebei Province. After getting over many difficulties, foresters have turned the area into China’s largest man-made forest. Another example is the Mu Us Desert (毛乌素沙漠). It was once known for its sandstorms. But now, one-quarter of the desert has been turned into forests.
1. The passage probably comes from ________ in a newspaper.| A．Earth & Environment | B．Jobs & Travel |
| C．People & Graduate Students | D．Health & Diets |
| A．Planting more trees has slowed down global warming. |
| B．Asian countries are planting more trees than other countries. |
| C．China is responsible for global warming. |
| D．China has greatly expanded their green coverage. |
| A．Half of the earth’s forest area is in China. |
| B．The earth’s green vegetation has increased by 25 %. |
| C．The findings of Chi Chen’s team are based on 20 years of data. |
| D．Saihanba is the largest man-made forest in the world. |
| A．Because the climate change is a serious problem. |
| B．Because a special camera has been used. |
| C．Because of the data they collected from 2000 to 2020. |
| D．Because of forest protection and expansion programs that China created. |
| A．it took China a long time to prevent its forests from dying out |
| B．China has made great efforts to expand its forest area |
| C．planting trees is the only way to solve environmental problems |
| D．it is impossible to turn deserts into forests |
One of the most important activities of our life is sleep. World Sleep Day is the special day for sleeping. It’s organized by the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) since 2008 and it’s held on March 21st every year.
The aim of World Sleep Day is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep. Events involving discussions, presentations of educational materials and exhibitions take place around the world and online.
Sleep quality plays a key role in people’s health. The studies show that there’re lots of advantages if we always get enough sleep. We can be smarter, thinner, healthier and more cheerful. We’ll also have better skin, better memories adn longer lives. When you lose even one hour of sleep for any reason, it will influence your performance the next day.
In general, adults are thought to need at least eight hours of sleep a night, but a recent survey found that, only 21% of them really get a full eight hours of sleep. For teenagers, a healthy amount is about eight to nine hours per night. However, about 80% of middle school students don’t get enough sleep because they have too much schoolwork to do, or sometimes they spend most of their sleeping-time on games or TV.
27% of people throughout the world have sleep problems. Now there are over 80 kinds of sleep disorders, and most people know little about their danger. So, for our good life and work, it’s necessary for us to realize the importance of sleep and try to have a good sleep.
1. How long has World Sleep Day been celebrated so far?2. What is the purpose of World Sleep Day?
3. What will happen if we sleep one hour less than we should?
4. Why don’t most middle school students have enough sleep?
5. What suggestion will you give about our better sleep?
Baby panda says hello to world
Three years ago, Bing Dwen Dwen became the mascot for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The design comes from 5,816 works from 38 countries and areas. Cao Xue, the chief designer of Bing Dwen Dwen, said the idea first came from the traditional Chinese snack bingtanghulu. But a simple snack couldn’t stand for a country by itself. Cao’s team tried many animals and plants and finally decided on a panda.
However, there were already too many cartoon images of pandas. Cao first decided that it should be a baby panda instead of an adult one, so its body is as long as its head.
Cao’s team looked all over the world to collect all the panda designs they could find. They wanted to make sure their panda looked special. They visited the panda nature reserve in Wolong, Sichuan, to get ideas. They found that baby pandas are pigeon-toed（内八字）and often lean in while standing.
Now the panda in an ice shell is made into toys and models, as well as printed on notebooks, badges（徽章）and bags. People of all ages like them very much. “Design is like dancing with chains. I’m glad we performed a good dance.” Cao said.
| Bing Dwen Dwen —The mascot for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic | |
| When it becomes the mascot | In 2019 |
| Who the chief | Cao Xue |
| How the idea came out | ♦It came from the traditional Chinese snack bingtanghulu, but a simple snack couldn’t stand for a country by itself. Finally, they used a panda. ♦Its body is as long as its head because it should be a baby panda, not an adult one. ♦They looked all over the world to collect all the designs to make sure their panda looked special. ♦They even visited the Wolong Nature Reserve to |
| What it looks like | ♦The helmet made of ice makes the mascot look ♦It waves its left hand with two red hearts to show its kindness and love. ♦The colourful lines around its head stand for |
| How | It is made into all kinds of souvenirs（纪念品）. |
4 . Three-Two-One, Fire!
At the moment of 9:43 a.m., on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020, at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (卫星发射中心) in Sichuan Province, the last satellite of the third-generation network (第三代导航系统) was sent into space. It is the 55th member in the family of BeiDou. It belongs to China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS北斗卫星导航系统). So far, 59 satellites, including the first four test ones, have been launched from Xichang. With the development of China, we have already owned three other famous satellite launch centers — Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Wenchang.
After a period of tests in space, this new satellite has started to work with other Beidou satellites together. It is designed to work for at least 12 years. So far, China has completed the third-generation network of China’s BDS. It was a new milestone in the nation’s space research work. The launch showed our country has completed our largest space-based system. It’s one of four global navigation networks, including the United States’ GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.
BDS has been widely used as public resources in our daily life. It has been shared by the whole world. It will offer more services around the world. BDS is the common wealth of the development of human beings.
1. When was the last satellite of the third-generation network (第三代导航系统) sent into space?| A．On May 21st, 2019. | B．On June 23rd, 2020. |
| C．On July 22cd, 2020. | D．On September 23rd, 2020. |
| A．50. | B．55. | C．59. | D．114. |
| A．记录 | B．事业 | C．里程碑 | D．起点 |
| A．China | B．the United States | C．Russia | D．the European Union |
| A．So far, China has completed the third-generation network of China’s BDS. |
| B．The new satellite is designed to work for at most 12 years. |
| C．BDS is shared only by China as public resources. |
| D．The last satellite of BDS was launched at 9:43 p.m. June 23rd, 2020. |
5 . We have been used to wearing masks (口罩) in public since February. About 300 million masks are used and then thrown away every day in China. Where do these masks go? You might think they just go in a rubbish bin. But that’s just the first stop on the masks’ journey.
After the masks are thrown into the bins, rubbish trucks empty the bins and take the rubbish to landfills (垃圾场). Next, the masks will be taken to rubbish incinerators (焚化炉) and burned. Burning masks might not seem to be very good for the environment. Won’t it cause pollution?
The answer is “no”, according to China Daily. The main material of most masks is polypropylene (聚丙烯). It’s non-toxic (无毒的). After burning, it changes into water and CO2.
In fact, burning the masks can bring some benefits (益处). The process of burning the rubbish can produce electricity. Burning one ton of rubbish can produce more than 400 kilowatt hours (度) of electricity. Some people make a prediction that there will be 162,000 tons of used masks in China this year. Burning all of them can produce more than 64 million kilowatt hours of electricity. This is enough to make an electric car drive about 370 million km, which is 9,250 times as long as the earth’s equator.
At last, the slag (残渣) from burning masks can be recycled to make bricks (砖块) or fill the roads.
1. How many masks are used and then thrown away every day in China?| A．More than 64 million. | B．About 300 million. |
| C．About 370 million. | D．About 9,250 million. |
| A．electricity factories | B．rubbish bins | C．rubbish trucks | D．landfills |
| A．plastic | B．polypropylene | C．water | D．CO2 |
| A．People are not used to wearing masks in public. |
| B．Burning masks won’t cause pollution. |
| C．There are 162,000 tons of used masks every month in China. |
| D．The process of burning the masks can produce electricity and bricks. |
| A．How do We Burn Used Masks? | B．Where do the Used Masks Go? |
| C．How do People Produce Electricity? | D．Why do We Throw Away Used Masks? |
6 . The world is a lot greener thanks to a young man named Felix Finkbeiner. Ever since he was 9 years old, he has been trying to save the planet. In 2007, the German created an environmental organization called “Plant-for-the-Planet”. It encourages and trains children from around the world to plant trees as a way of fighting against climate change. The first tree for Plant-for-the-Planet was planted in Starnberg, Germany in March, 2007.
Since its creation, the organization has already made great progress with the help of over 100,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12. One year after it was created, 150,000 trees had been planted. And after four years it was created, it had achieved its goal of planting a total of 1 million trees around the world.
Felix once said in a speech, “Forests are not only the livelihood of billions, bur for us children forests are our future.” It inspired kids from over 90 countries to join his movement.
In 2011, the United Nations handed over its Billion Tree Campaign to Plant-for-the-Planet. The Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Wangari Maathai from Kenya, an African country. Her Green Belt Movement planted more than 30 million trees in Africa. In 2017, the Billion Tree Campaign became the Trillion Tree Campaign: to plant one trillion trees in the next 30 years. There are about 3 trillion trees alive in the world today, so planting a trillion more would be a huge increase. That’s about 150 trees for every person on Earth.
1. The man behind Plant-for-the-Planet is ________.| A．shy | B．African | C．old | D．German |
| A．2008 | B．2009 | C．2011 | D．2012 |
| A．The forest | B．The future | C．Plant-for-the-Planet | D．What Felix said in his speech |
| A．She is from the same country as Felix. |
| B．She started the Billion Tree Campaign. |
| C．Her goal was to plant 3 trillion trees in the world. |
| D．Her organization planted over 30 million trees in Africa. |
| A．Come and join Green Belt Movement! | B．Fun free-planting activities for kids |
| C．Tree-planting organizations around the world | D．He is getting the world to plant trees! |
7 . Do you help your parents with chores around the house? Can you cook for your family?
To stress the importance of hardworking spirit education among students of different ages, the Chinese government recently released a guideline. The guideline calls for students to respect（尊重）work. Students should learn basic life skills and form good working habits, through such education.
The government has been trying to stress the importance of hardworking spirit education. But this has been overlooked（忽视）in recent years. Many teens do not value the importance of working hard and are uninterested in doing so.
According to a study of nearly 3,000 students that was done by Xiangyang Evening News in March, only 22 percent of primary and middle school students help with everyday chores around the house.
Schools and families play an important role in teaching students about the value of working hard, the guideline says.
Primary and middle schools should provide students with hardworking spirit classes every week, according to the guideline. Schools can also hold activities to give students real-world work experience. For example, schools can teach children how to plant trees on Tree-planting Day.
As children’s first teachers, parents should also encourage children to learn how to do chores at home. Students should master one or two life skills every year. These skills can include cooking, washing their own clothes and tidying their rooms.
1. The guideline was released in order to ________.| A．teach students how to do chores at home | B．ask students to be more independent |
| C．help students solve life problems | D．call for students to respect work |
| A．Challenges in life | B．Hardworking spirit education |
| C．The recently released guideline | D．Basic life skills |
| A．发布 | B．重新规定 | C．释放 | D．制定 |
| A．teach students how to plant trees | B．hand out the guideline to every student |
| C．provide both guidance and chances for real work | D．give parents homework to do |
| A．Do most housework at home. | B．Master one or two life skills every year. |
| C．Ask children to focus more on study. | D．Help children learn to do chores at home. |
8 . We all need cash, in order to live our lives. However, something called digital currency is slowly taking the place of cash. A currency is a kind of money. Usually, we use currency when we talk about a country’s money. If something is digital, it only exists on a computer. So “digital currency” means money that only exists on computers.
Lots of people have digital currency accounts. They use a credit card to change their real money into digital money, and then the money goes into the digital currency account. A lot of people wonder, “Why in the world should I change my real money into digital currency?” This is a fair question, but there’s a good answer. If you want to buy something on the Internet, then you usually have to use digital currency. For example, if you’re in China and you want to buy something in Canada, then you’ll have to pay with the digital currency.
Many people still don’t trust digital currency. Some people think that if they can’t hold their money in their hand, then it doesn’t seem real. These people don’t feel comfortable when they see numbers on the computer screen. The computer tells them that their money is safe but these people don’t really feel safe. Another problem is security. There are hackers all over the world. A hacker is a person who steals computer information. If a hacker gets the password of your digital currency account, he or she can steal your money.
You have to decide whether or not you trust this new invention. Just remember one thing: if you want to buy something online, then you probably won’t have a choice. You’ll have to use digital currency.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?| A．How to use digital currency. | B．Why we all need cash to live. | C．What digital currency is. |
| A．Trustful. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. |
| A．存钱 | B．安全 | C．支付 |
| A．Digital currency has taken the place of cash. |
| B．Digital currency is only used in Canada. |
| C．You probably can’t shop online without digital currency. |
| A．Two kinds of money. | B．Money that you can’t touch. | C．Currency around the world. |
9 . Have you ever bought Genki Forest sparkling water because it’s advertised as “sugar-free”? The company recently said that they were sorry for a misleading advertisement.
The company said the drinks are “sucrose-free”, but this is not the same as “sugar-free”? Now the company has changed the word “sugar-free” to “low sugar” on the bottle.
In fact, there are many kinds of sugar, Sucrose is just one of them. Other kinds of sugar, such as Fructose and sugar alcohol, are still in Genki Forest drinks. These types of sugar are used as sweeteners. They offer little energy, but a small amount of them can make drinks taste sweet. That’s why low sugar drinks like Genki Forest are popular who want to lose weight. They believe that they can not only enjoy sweet drinks but also avoid taking in too much sugar.
However, studies find that the sweeteners might make people eat more. When you eat sweet-tasting things, they send your brain a “sweet signal”. Then your brain tells your body to prepare itself to take in energy. But since the low-sugar soft drink has little energy, the brain will not receive what it is expecting. At this time, you will feel hungry and start getting energy by eating more food.
According to China Daily, drinking too many low-sugar drinks might lead to fatness and many other diseases. It’s time for you to think twice when you want to keep up with the fashion.
1. Why did Genki Forest recently say sorry?| A．For making too many advertisements. |
| B．For not having any sugar in its drinks. |
| C．For advertising its drinks incorrectly. |
| A．People can lose weight by drinking its drinks. |
| B．Its drinks taste sweeter than other drinks. |
| C．There are sweeteners in its drinks. |
| A．They are used more in food than drinks. |
| B．They provide enough energy for people. |
| C．They might make people feel hungrier. |
| A．enjoyable | B．fashionable | C．harmful |
| A．Genki Forest-the Most Popular Drink | B．Different Kinds of Sugar | C．Truth Not That Sweet |
Noisy neighbors are a common problem in a society where many people live closely together. And this can be most important when you share walls, floors or ceilings with neighbors in a flat. A noisy neighbor can make life challenging, especially if noise goes well into night, or happens during early morning hours. This situation needs to be dealt with properly, which requires your ability to keep calm.
You should first try to tell your noisy neighbors about the noise. This conversation should be polite, even friendly. It can begin with a statement like “I am not sure you are aware”. Explain the problem in an honest way, and ask the neighbor to turn down the music, or not to hold parties until 3 a. m. You can also add that you realize they hear your noise too, and you are certainly willing to try to stop anything in your behavior that is creating extra noise.
You should know that not all neighbors are going to follow your requirement, and some may act in a bad manner. If the noisy neighbors don’t change their behavior, the next step should be to write the neighbors a letter. The letter should show your grievances(不满) and the dates when the noise was quite terrible. For example, if your neighbor has loud gatherings every Friday night that last into the early morning, then write down those dates.
When the noise remains going on, you should report it to local authorities(权力部门), or even the police department, when it is really necessary. Often, however, the problem is solved when the noisy neighbor knows you are going to call the police.
Do be aware that you cannot always require noisy neighbors to be quiet. When the noise remains going on, it is wise not to deal with it in an angry or retaliatory(报复性的) fashion. If you have completed the steps and letter, don’t start hitting walls or floors around in your home or turning up the music to make your neighbors angry. Just have patience and remember that communication is the most important.
| Introduction | A noisy neighbor makes life challenging, but the problem needs to be dealt with | |
| Start the conversation with politeness. Explain the problem honestly, and ask the neighbor to reduce noise. Admit(承认) that you make noise too, and promise not to | ||
| Writing letters | Some neighbors won’t follow your requirement or change their behavior. Show your grievances and the dates when the noise was quite terrible. | |
| Reporting to local authorities | If the noise continues, you should report it to local authorities when really necessary. Usually, the problem will be solved when the noisy neighbor knows you will call the police. | |
| Conclusion | Don’t deal with the problem in an angry or retaliatory fashion. Keep | |
