1 . ①It’s known that green tea is a symbol of Chinese culture. Also, it helps to improve health in so many ways that some people think of it as a kind of medicine. Perhaps that is why the Chinese have been using it for more than 4,000 years to treat all kinds of medical problems. Today, scientists know that there are catechin, caffeine, vitamin C and theanine in green tea that are good for health.
②Catechin is helpful for lowering (降低) cancer (癌症) risk. It protects the body from cancer-causing substances (物质) and slows the growth of cancer. Besides fighting cancer, catechin prevents serious health problems like heart disease.
③Caffeine causes the heart to beat faster. That’s why it was once thought that caffeine was not very healthy, but studies suggest that there are also good reasons for drinking caffeine. Specifically, caffeine has to do with a lower risk for Parkinson’s disease and liver (肝脏) disease. Yet, caffeine also has some weaknesses. It can influence sleep and make people nervous, so experts advise teenagers not to have more than 100 ml of caffeine a day. This is about the caffeine of a small cup of coffee.
④Vitamin C is something that the human body cannot make enough by itself. So we have to get it through food and drink. The vitamin may play a role in improving physical conditions to colds and the flu. Also, it helps people to get well more quickly from those illnesses.
⑤Theanine is another healthy substance found in tea. It has been shown to lower stress, both mental and physical, and increase mind abilities. It is also used for preventing some brain diseases.
⑥As you can see, green tea has many good values. Drinking it may help you stay healthy. Of course, as with any healthy substance, it is important to check if there are any bad influence as well.
| A．Because it’s delicious for us to drink. | B．Because it helps to deal with illnesses. |
| C．Because it’s a symbol of Chinese culture. | D．Because it’s made into different drinks. |
| A．It lowers cancer risk. | B．It makes the heart to beat faster. |
| C．It lowers liver disease risk. | D．It makes people less stressed. |
| A．Tea can take the place of medicine. | B．We should drink as much tea as possible. |
| C．Tea has some bad influence on our health. | D．Drinking tea may help people to stay in health. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
2 . When someone has a sharply different viewpoint from our own, we naturally choose two common ways, either avoiding a conversation with that person or trying to convince (说服) them they are wrong. Research shows there is another way: using receptive (接纳性的) language, showing that we are truly interested in a new point of view.
Many of us try to avoid disputed (有争议的) discussions. We prefer to talk with someone with similar opinions. This happens because we usually think that talking to someone who has disagreements will be more unpleasant than it actually is. When we do have to talk with people holding different views, we typically try to convince them to give up their belief because we think we are right and try to “win” the argument. And the other side is likely to think the same way, which leads to even more difficult problems to walk through.
A more effective method is being conversationally receptive. Research shows that when we appear receptive to others’ different views, our arguments sound more convincing. Receptive language can also make those with whom we disagree more receptive in return. It makes us more likable, and others more interested in partnering with us.
Researchers suggested three tips that can help us improve conversational receptiveness in even the most heated disagreements.
Recognize the other person’s point of view. Say “I understand that…or”, “I believe what you’re saying is…” to show that you take an active part in the conversation and find value and even trust in their points.
Hedge your statements. When we talk, we usually hold the opinion that we should be strong and confident and express our views in a direct, forceful way. But if we show that we are not so sure about our belief, our views will be better received.
Express your arguments in an acceptable way. You might say, “Let’s consider the possible benefits of having fewer people working on the project “rather than”, “We should not add more people to the project.” The second sentence sounds unpleasant, showing that the speaker is not open to the possibility of further discussion.
By following these tips in our communication, we’ll be more likely to have an effective conversation and bridge the differences.
| A．Why people dislike those with different opinions. |
| B．How people convince others to give up their belief. |
| C．How people communicate to deal with difficult problems. |
| D．Why people use two common ways when facing disagreements. |
| A．Effective communication. | B．Creative statements. |
| C．Increased confidence. | D．Divided opinions. |
| A．Explain your reasons clearly. | B．Raise your questions politely. |
| C．Voice your ideas less forcefully. | D．Express your excuses more directly. |
| A．To stress the importance of productive communication. |
| B．To introduce a better way to deal with disagreements. |
| C．To explain the reasons for using receptive language. |
| D．To provide three effective tips to win an argument. |
3 . The British are known for their sense of humour, but it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.
Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, “She isn’t exactly friendly.” Or if someone is sunburnt outside, he might say, “
Another key to understanding British humour is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly things that happen in our everyday life when someone falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes of people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about the way they speak, the way they dress and the way they behave. What’s more, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The famous Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humour.
Mr. Bean is the role played by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990. Mr. Bean doesn’t talk often. Instead, he uses his body movements and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world wouldn’t do. Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you don’t need to understand his humour with the help of English. As a result, British sense of humour has become well-known to many people.
1. How does the author explain “understatement”?| A．By listing facts. | B．By making a survey. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．It’s a little sunny today. | B．I love the sun so much. |
| C．The sun plays a joke on me. | D．The heat has nearly killed me. |
| A．The British prefer to laugh at themselves rather than others in their daily life. |
| B．The British usually fully express how they really feel or think in their conversations. |
| C．Most of English people suppose it’s impolite to make fun of people who can’t behave well |
| D．Mr. Bean is popular in the world because he often uses body languages instead of talking a lot. |
| A．Developing a Sense of Humour | B．Understanding British Humour |
| C．The Influence of British Humour | D．Movie Actors with British Humour |
4 . 阅读下面材料，从A-D中选出与1-4图片相对应的广告技巧，并回答第5题。
Every day we see ads on TV, in magazines, on websites, on the street, and on our computer screens. Are you an ad detective? Can you understand the messages advertisers send you? To be an ad detective, it is useful to know how ads work. Let’s look at some typical advertising techniques.
A. Group pressure: An ad shows lots of people, each with their own cell phone.
Message: Everyone has a cell phone. You need one, too!
B. Testimonials: A famous pianist says he uses a certain brand of pianos.
Message: You’ll be good at playing the piano too if you buy this brand of pianos. Or because a famous pianist uses this piano, and you can trust the product.
C. Repetition: These ads mention the product many times and say wonderful things about it.
Message: You need to remember the product.
D. Time pressure: These ads use expressions like “Buy now! Half price this week.”
Message: You should buy the product quickly before you miss a great opportunity.
Ads are interesting, but you can make better decisions about what to buy when you know these techniques!
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4.
5. Which advertising technique do you think is the most useful? Why? (No more than 20 words)
5 . Dragon Head-raising Day is celebrated on the second day of the second Chinese lunar month to show respect to Dragon King and wish good weather for a big harvest. It is considered the start of spring and farming.
After the cold winter, spring comes and animals are awake, but because of the winter, the weather is dry and farming needs water. The story goes that after this day, the Dragon King who controls clouds and rains would wake from his winter sleep and bring rainfall for the crops.
On that day, there are lots of traditional celebration activities. First, in the early morning when it’s still dark, families go to a river or a well with lanterns to get water and then carry it back home. Then they light candles, burn incense sticks (香柱) and offer a sacrifice (祭品). This ritual is named Yintianlong (lead the field dragon). People believe the actions can bring wealth and health to their homes.
The most well-known tradition on the day is having a haircut. It’s a sign of good luck and energy in the whole year. However, it is very bad luck to get a haircut during the first lunar month.
Eating “dragon” food is another important part of celebrations. Chinese are best at connecting certain food with luck so food eaten on this day also gets special names. Noodles which are long and thin are called “dragon beard (long xu).” Dumplings are called “dragon ears (long er).” Spring rolls are “dragon scales (long lin)”, and people call popcorn “dragon seeds (long zi)”.
Those celebration activities may be different in the south and the north, and some activities are remained to nowadays, while some are just kept in the past. But the wish for a good year ahead is the same despite the change of time or space.
1. What do Chinese people think of the Dragon King?| A．It creates spring winds. | B．It controls the animals for farming. |
| C．It brings rains for lands. | D．It wakes after the first rain in spring. |
| A．A set of actions. | B．A kind of sacrifices. |
| C．The name of a dragon. | D．The word of greetings. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．To introduce the traditions of Dragon Head-raising Day. |
| B．To compare different traditions of the south and the north. |
| C．To explain the importance of “dragon” in Chinese culture. |
| D．To share experiences of celebrating Dragon Head-raising Day. |
“Do you know Macao was never my real name. I have been away for too long, mother ...”
Song of Seven Sons — Macao, was written by Wen Yiduo in 1925, is still in the hearts of Macao’s teenagers today. The Basic Law of Macao Special Administrative Region came out in 1993 and to work on Dec, 20, 1999, as Macao returned to China. From then on, it has become much easier to build a closer relationship with their motherland.
Chan U, an 18-year-old, is studying at the University of Macao. She said, “travelling to the Chinese mainland has become easier. Visits to Zhuhai have become a part of the daily life of some people.” Kun Lot U, 25, studies at the South China University of Technology. She said, “Many local people go to Zhuhai to buy vegetables as they are fresher and cheaper than those in local markets. Young people often go to Zhuhai to play jubensha, a role-playing game.”
The number of trips out of Macao in January was 2.23 million, and most of them went to the Chinese mainland. Cities like Chongqing, Changsha and Hangzhou are popular places for young people, according to Chan. Guangdong is also a good choice since the language and food are similar.
“Young people in Macao care a lot about what’s happening on the mainland,” said Kun, “Like the young people on the mainland, they also use apps from the mainland to know the hot issues (话题). They have learned many mainland Internet catchphrases (流行语). I know about the most popular ones such as ‘yyds’, and they make us understand more about people and life on the mainland.”
More than half of the people in Macao use online shopping apps from the mainland. Kun said that it’s because they can find almost everything they need at good prices on the apps. The products are first shipped to a collection station in Macao. It usually takes about three to seven days for local people to get the product. “The connection between Macao and the motherland is getting stronger and stronger,” said Chan.
1. Why does the writer mention Song of the Seven Sons — Macao?| A．To start a story. | B．To explain an idea. |
| C．To introduce a topic | D．To discuss a problem |
| A．Apps from the mainland. | B．Hot issues from the mainland. |
| C．Role-playing games from the mainland. | D．Internet catchphrases from the mainland. |
| A．Most people in Macao enjoy visiting Zhuhai in their daily life. |
| B．In January, 2.23 million people in Macao visited the Chinese mainland. |
| C．The language and food in Guangdong are different from those in Macao. |
| D．Online shopping apps from the mainland are popular with people in Macao. |
| A．The Daily Life of Young People in Macao |
| B．Macao, Staying Connected with the Mainland |
| C．A famous Song, Song of the Seven Sons — Macao |
| D．The Most Popular Places for Young People on the Mainland |
Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction (上瘾). When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar goes into our blood and influences the parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has an especially strong influence. In this way, it is an addictive drug (药) that doctors suggest we should all cut down on.
“It seems like every time I study an illness and follow a way to the cause, I find my way back to sugar,” says scientist Richard Johnson, One-third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure, and up to 347 million have diabetes (糖尿病). Why? “Sugar, we believe, is one of the causes, if not the major (主要) cause,” says Johnson.
Our bodies are designed to live on very little sugar. Early humans often had very little food, so our bodies learned to be very experienced in storing sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy stored for when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once saved us may now be killing us.
So what is the solution? It’s clear that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today’s work, it’s not easy to avoid. From breakfast cereals (谷物) to after-dinner desserts (甜点), our foods are increasingly filled with it. Some producer even use sugar to replace taste in foods that are advertised as low in fat. So while the foods appear to be healthier, plenty of sugar are often added.
1. What did scientists find about sugar?| A．It can be found in all tasty foods. | B．It is something that influence our brain. |
| C．It can make us feel good for a long time. | D．It is the main cause of high blood pressure. |
| A．Saving sugar as fat. | B．Having less energy. |
| C．Having no food to eat. | D．Eating too much fat. |
| A．People today seldom exercise. | B．We get used to eat it at school. |
| C．It’s in so many food and drinks. | D．Some producers sell too much sugar. |
| A．To remind readers to eat less sugar. | B．To ask scientists to fight against sugar. |
| C．To tell readers the illness caused by sugar. | D．To teach readers different ways to store sugar. |
8 .
Smartphone Use in Teenagers’ Life | |
| There are about 6.8 billion smartphone users worldwide nowadays. And about 88% of teenagers aged between 13 and 17 use smartphones in their daily life. According to the latest report, they spend about 2 hours on smartphones every day. |
How do Teenagers Allocate (分配) Time on the Smartphone?
| |
What do Teenagers Think of the Smartphone? ◆Jenny: My mom and I love shopping on it. It saves time and money. ◆Lueas: When I feel nervous, I like to listen to music on it. It’s a good way to relax. ◆Mary: It makes our life convenient, but we should never spend too much time on it. ◆John: It is really useful and helpful and it helps me a lot when I have trouble in study. | |
1. According to the passage, teenagers spend about one third of their time ______ on smartphones.
| A．taking photos | B．playing games |
| C．sending text messages | D．watching and sharing videos |
| A．is a great learning tool for him | B．provides a good way to relax |
| C．makes it much easier to shop online | D．should not be used too much |
| A．School life. | B．World trade. |
| C．Health and environment. | D．Society and modern life. |
When you meet a strange Chinese character (汉字) what will you do? Surely, the most reliable way is to look it up in Xinhua Dictionary.
Since its birth in 1953, Xinhua Dictionary has been a must-have book in schools across China. More than 567 million copies had been sold by 2016. So it was even recognized by the Guinness World Records as the “most popular dictionary” that year.
Small as the dictionary is, it means a lot to China. The dictionary was given the name Xinhua by the chief editor Wei Jiangong, and it carried the hope of a country reborn. In 1949, around 80% of China’s population wasn’t able to get education (教育). It was Xinhua Dictionary that had reduced the number to 52% by 1964. To make it easier for illiterate people to understand, the earliest copies had many pictures.
Thanks to Xinhua Dictionary, many Chinese got new chances in their life. Mo Yan, the 69-year-old Nobel Laureate, once mentioned the dictionary in his speech. He said that he was lucky to have a copy of the dictionary after dropping out from school. He learned most of Chinese characters from it, and that helped him write novels and enter a college later.
This important dictionary has also recorded the development of the language and society. It is revised (修订) every five to ten years. Recent copies have included many new explanations. The character “晒” (to dry something in the sun), for example, now has a second meaning: to share. In a way, the dictionary hasn’t just explained characters; it has reflected (反映) the way Chinese people think.
1. When did Xinhua Dictionary first come out?| A．In 1949. | B．In 1953. | C．In 1964. | D．In 2016. |
| A．People who are bad at maths. | B．People who can’t draw or sing. |
| C．People who are too old to see. | D．People who can’t read or write. |
| A．To share a speech about the dictionary. | B．To offer advice on using the dictionary. |
| C．To show the influence of the dictionary. | D．To explain the development of the dictionary. |
| A．Nature. | B．People. | C．Culture. | D．Business. |
In a noisy restaurant, you can still hear your friend’s voice clearly. You talk happily without paying attention to others’ conversations. That’s because selective (选择性的) attention is helping you.
Selective attention is an amazing ability in our brain. It allows people to choose and focus on (专注于) something in the environment. At the same time, it can filter out (过滤) unnecessary information, so people can focus on one conversation in a crowded place. But how does selective attention work? Researchers from Columbia University did an experiment to study it. The result shows that the brain is selective about the sounds it hears. When a person listens to someone talking, their brain waves (波) change to pick out the features of the speaker’s voice and filter out other voices.
To further understand how selective attention works, the researchers studied two parts of the brain’s listening centre: Heschl’s gyrus (HG) and the superior temporal gyrus (STG). Information from the ears reaches HG first, passes through it and arrives at STG later. In the study, they found the following facts: in HG area, every voice is treated the same way. That is to say, HG doesn’t prefer one voice or another. But in STG area, it’s possible to choose one speaker’s voice and make it louder. The whole process (过程) only takes 150 milliseconds and it happens immediately to a listener. As a result, people can focus on one voice when there are many other conversations around.
“Today’s study is quite important. We want to better understand how the brain helps us to hear so well, as well as create technologies that help people,” said Dr. Mesgarani, the leader of the researchers. With the help of the finding, speech recognition technologies have been improved. The researchers have already developed a new kind of hearing aid that can help collect information more correctly. It could make one speaker’s voice louder over another. They also plan to study more about HG and STG activity in situations that have more speakers.
1. What can selective attention help people do according to the passage?| A．Choose where to talk. | B．Hear more in a conversation |
| C．Forget unnecessary information. | D．Focus on one voice in a noisy place. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．How to improve listening | B．How the listening centre works. |
| C．How to make a better hearing aid. | D．How HG and STG protect each other. |
| A．A Great Ability in Brain | B．A New Study on Technologies |
| C．A Key to Reducing Noise | D．A Way to Make Conversation |
